UNIONS  IN  TWO 


ACO 


1016 


VILLAGE  TRADE  UNIONS 
IN    TWO     CENTURIES 


^Village  Trade  Unions 
in  Two  Centuries 


By 


Ernest  Selley 


LONDON  :  GEORGE  ALLEN  &  UNWIN  LTD. 
RUSKIN  HOUSE,  40  MUSEUM  STREET,  W.C.  i 
NEW  YORK  :  THE  MACM1LLAN  COMPANY 


Ft rtt  published  November  19/9 
Reprinted   .     .    January  1920 


(Att  rigktt  restrwl) 

UNIVERSITY  OF  SOUTHERN  CALIFORNIA 


PREFACE 

I  WISH  to  record  my  obligation  to  Mr.  A.  W.  Ashby 
and  Mr.  L.  M.  Marshall  for  their  helpful  criticisms 
and  suggestions,  and  also  to  express  my  gratitude 
to  Mr.  George  Dallas,  of  The  Workers'  Union, 
and  Mr.  R.  B.  Walker,  of  the  National  Agri- 
cultural Labourers,'  and  Rural  Workers'  Union, 
who  have  willingly  placed  at  my  disposal  the 
facts  relating  to  the  growth  of  their  respective 

organizations. 

E.  S. 
LONDON,  July  1919. 


NINETEENTH    CENTURY 


Village    Trade    Unions    in 
Two    Centuries 

CHAPTER   I 
THE  FIRST  UNION 

*'  How  beggarly  appear  arguments  before  a  defiant  deed  J 

THE  first  English  Agricultural  Labourers'  Union 
was  formed  in  1833  at  Tolpuddle,  an  obscure  village 
in  Dorsetshire.  It  existed  only  a  few  months,  and 
was  a  complete  failure.  Had  it  not  been  for  the 
senseless  brutality  of  the  Government,  the  story 
of  this  little  Union  might  never  have  been  recorded. 
Yet  the  story  of  the  "  Dorchester  Labourers  "  is 
a  well-known  episode  of  early  Trade  Union  History. 
It  was  a  time  of  great  agricultural  distress,  and  it 
is  doubtful  whether  even  a  well-organized,  powerful 
combination  could  have  succeeded  by  direct  action 
in  raising  the  standard  of  living  among  farm 
labourers.  There  was  a  sufficient  "  reserve  of 
labour  "  to  break  the  back  of  the  most  powerfully 

11 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

organized  Union.  Thousands  of  starving  unem- 
ployed labourers  were  ready  to  work  for  even  less 
than  seven  shillings  a  week,  which  was  the  sum  the 
Tolpuddle  farmers  were  paying.  Small  wonder, 
then,  that  this  tiny  Union  with  no  funds  failed  hi 
its  objects.  Let  alone,  it  would  have  uttered  its 
valiant  protest  and  disappeared.  The  Union  men 
thus  defeated  and  turned  adrift  might  have  ac- 
quired local  celebrity  as  wicked  men  who  richly 
deserved  the  fate  which  had  befallen  them.  And 
the  clergyman  from  his  pulpit  might  occasionally 
have  held  them  up  as  examples  of  what  would 
certainly  happen  to  all  those  with  a  tendency  to 
be  dissatisfied  with  the  dispensations  of  Providence. 
Doubtless  this  fame  was  not  denied  them ;  but 
they  gained  even  greater  celebrity.  They  became 
national  bogies.  Half  a  dozen  untutored  agricul- 
tural labourers  frightened  a  powerful  Government 
out  of  its  wits.  A  wave  of  panic  swept  the  seats 
of  the  mighty.  The  Times  wrote  of  a  "  dangerous 
union,"  "  that  criminal  and  fearful  spirit  of  com- 
bination." Members  of  Parliament  thought  it 
"  abominable "  that  labourers  should  "  unite  to 
persecute  their  employers."  Poor,  down-trodden 
labourers,  earning  seven  shillings  a  week,  had 
become  "  criminal,"  "  fearful,"  and  "  abominable," 
because  they  thought  they  ought  to  have  more 
than  seven  shillings  a  week,  and  said  so.  These 
utterances  show  how  little  the  ruling  classes  under- 
stood the  distress  of  the  times.  Hitherto,  unrest 
in  the  country  districts  had  made  itself  known 
by  means  of  arson. 
12 


THE  FIRST  UNION 

"  In  the  winter  (1830-1),"  writes  Engels,  "  the  farmers' 
hay  and  corn  stacks  were  burnt  in  the  fields,  and  the 
very  barns  and  stables  under  their  windows.  Nearly 
every  night  a  couple  of  such  fires  blazed  up,  and  spread 
terror  among  the  farmers  and  landlords.  The  offenders 
were  rarely  discovered,  and  the  workers  attributed  the 
incendiarism  to  a  mythical  person  whom  they  named 
'  Swing  '." 

E.  G.  Wakefield,  M.P.,  in  a  pamphlet  entitled 
Swing  Unmasked  (1830),  thus  describes  the  lot  of 
the  agricultural  labourer  : — 

"  An  English  agricultural  labourer  and  an  English 
pauper — these  words  are  synonymous.  His  father  was  a 
pauper  and  his  mother's  milk  contained  no  nourishment. 
From  his  earliest  childhood  he  had  bad  food,  and  only  half 
enough  to  still  his  hunger,  and  even  yet  he  undergoes 
the  pangs  of  unsatisfied  hunger  almost  all  the  time  that 
he  is  not  asleep.  .  .  .  His  wretched  existence  is  brief ; 
rheumatism  and  asthma  bring  him  to  the  workhouse, 
where  he  will  draw  his  last  breath  without  a  single  pleasant 
recollection,  and  will  make  room  for  another  luckless 
wretch  to  live  and  die  as  he  has  done." 

Such  was  the  general  condition  of  farm  labourers 
when  the  Trade  Union  standard  was  first  raised 
by  the  bold  peasants  of  Tolpuddle.  The  story  of 
how  the  Union  came  to  be  formed  is  told  by  George 
Loveless,  a  Methodist  lay  preacher,  who  was  the 
local  "  village  Hampden."  It  was  in  1831  or  1832 
that  the  men  first  voiced  their  discontent. 

They  met  the  farmers  in  the  presence  of  the 
parson  and  asked  to  be  paid  the  same  wages  as 
other  farmers  in  the  district  were  paying,  which 
was  said  to  be  los.  a  week.  It  was  mutually  agreed 

18 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

that  the  wages  should  be  93.  a  week.  "  No  language 
of  intimidation  or  threatening  was  used  on  this 
occasion."  However,  the  farmers  did  not  keep 
their  side  of  the  bargain,  for  shortly  after  the 
wages  were  reduced  to  8s. 

"  This,"  says  Loveless,  "  caused  great  dissatisfaction, 
and  all  the  labouring  men  in  the  village,  with  the  exception 
of  two  or  three  invalids,  made  application  to  a  neigh- 
bouring magistrate  .  .  .  and  asked  his  advice:  he  told 
us  that  if  the  labourers  would  appoint  two  or  three,  and 
come  to  the  County  Hall  the  following  Saturday,  he  would 
apprise  the  chief  magistrate,  and  at  the  same  time  our 
employers  should  be  sent  for  to  settle  the  subject.  I 
was  nominated  to  appear,  and  when  there,  we  were  told 
that  we  must  work  for  what  our  employers  thought  fit 
to  give  us,  as  there  was  no  law  to  compel  masters  to  give 
any  fixed  sum." 

Wages  were  reduced  to  seven  shillings  a  week, 
and  the  men  were  told  that  shortly  they  would 
have  to  be  content  with  six !  Then,  and  not  till 
then,  did  the  men  think  of  forming  a  Union. 
Loveless  thus  describes  how  it  came  about : — 

"The  labouring  men  consulted  together  what  had 
better  be  done,  as  they  knew  it  was  impossible  to  live 
honestly  on  such  scanty  means.  I  had  seen  at  different 
times  accounts  of  Trade  Societies  ;  I  told  them  of  this, 
and  they  willingly  consented  to  form  a  Friendly  Society 
among  the  labourers,  having  sufficiently  learned  that 
it  would  be  vain  to  seek  redress  either  of  employers,  magis- 
trates, or  parsons.  I  enquired  of  a  brother  to  get  infor- 
mation how  to  proceed,  and  shortly  after,  two  delegates 
from  a  Trade  Society  paid  us  a  visit,  formed  a  Friendly 
Society  among  the  labourers,  and  gave  us  directions 
how  to  proceed." 
14 


THE          FIRST          UNION 

This  was  in  October  1833. 

The  ritual  and  code  of  rules  adopted  were  similar 
to  those  in  use  among  the  many  branches  of  the 
"  Grand  National  Consolidated  Trades  Union," 
which  were  springing  up  everywhere  in  the  towns 
and  cities.  The  farm  labourers  were  simply  taking 
a  leaf  out  of  the  town  artisan's  book.  Many  of 
the  rules  were  quaint,  but  it  must  be  remembered 
that  those  were  the  very  early  days  of  Trade 
Unions.  All  the  Trade  Unions  of  that  day  ad- 
ministered an  oath  of  secrecy,  and  possessed  some 
sort  of  regalia.  The  Tolpuddle  branch  had  a 
figure  of  "  Death  painted  six  feet  high  "  with  which 
to  perform  the  rites  of  initiation.  There  was  to  be 
an  Outside  and  Inside  Guardian,  and  the  Password 
was  to  be  changed  every  quarter. 

The  lawful  intention  of  the  Union  is  proved 
by  Rule  23  : — 

"  That  the  object  of  this  Society  can  never  be  promoted 
by  any  act  or  acts  of  violence,  but,  on  the  contrary,  all 
such  proceedings  must  tend  to  injure  and  destroy  the 
Society  itself.  This  Order,  therefore,  will  not  counten- 
ance any  violation  of  the  Laws." 

Lodge  meetings  were  evidently  run  on  strict 
business  lines,  for  one  of  the  bye-laws  directed  that 
no  member  should  be  "  allowed  to  eat,  read,  sleep, 
swear,  bet  wagers,  or  use  any  absurd  language 
during  Lodge  hours."  This  wholesome  rule  might, 
with  advantage,  be  adopted  to-day  by  both  Houses 
of  Parliament. 

The  oath  of  secrecy  and  the  ritual  may  appear 

15 


VILLAGE      TRADE       UNIONS 

humorous  to  many  in  these  days,  but  no  farm 
labourer  dared  to  let  it  be  known  that  he  had 
anything  to  do  with  a  Trade  Union.  However, 
in  spite  of  their  elaborate  precautions,  the  Tolpuddle 
Unionists  were  unable  to  keep  Judas  outside. 

Nothing  happened  until  the  Union  had  been 
in  existence  for  four  months,  when,  on  February 
21,  1834,  placards  were  posted  in  conspicuous 
places,  warning  the  labourers  that  membership  of 
the  Union  was  a  crime  to  be  punished  by  seven 
years'  transportation.  As  yet  the  Union  had 
issued  no  manifesto,  made  no  claim,  uttered  no 
threat.  Yet  within  three  days  of  the  publication 
of  this  warning,  James  Loveless,  George  Loveless, 
Thomas  Stanfield,  John  Stanfield,  James  Hammett, 
and  James  Brine,  "  evil-disposed  persons,"  were 
arrested  and  thrown  into  jail. 

Mr.  Sidney  Webb,  in  his  History  of  Trades  Unions, 
says :  "  The  trial  of  these  unfortunate  labourers 
was  a  scandalous  perversion  of  the  law."  The 
laws  against  combination  had  been  repealed  in 
1824 ;  therefore  it  was  not  illegal  to  form  an  associa- 
tion having  for  its  object  the  raising  of  wages. 
So  an  old  statute  intended  for  the  suppression  of 
seditious  societies  was  specially  invoked,  and  the 
six  prisoners,  after  a  brief  and  farcical  trial,  re- 
ceived a  sentence  of  seven  years'  transportation 
for  the  crime  of  having  administered  an  oath ! 

Referring  to  this  episode,  Sir  Spencer  Walpole 
writes : — 

"  The  statute  had  been  rarely  enforced :  practically 
it  had  been  disregarded  by  every  Trade  Union  in  the 
16 


THE          FIRST          UNION 

Kingdom.     It  was  suddenly  resuscitated  to  punish  the 
men  who  had  formed  the  first  Agricultural  Union." 

Daniel  O'Connell,  speaking  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  said : — 

"  It  was  a  slumbering  statute,  and  had  not  been  carried 
into  effect  against  the  many  associations  who  took  the 
oath.  .  .  .  Only  now  raked  up  to  inflict  an  enormous 
punishment  on  unfortunate  men  who  were  wholly  ignorant 
of  its  existence  and  innocent  of  any  moral  offence." 

The  Times  (April  i,  1834)  summed  up  the  case 
exactly : — 

"  All  Freemasons  and  Orangemen  .  .  .  might  with 
equal  justice  be  sentenced  to  transportation  for  the  fact 
of  having  taken  secret  and  unlawful  oaths  as  these  poor 
fellows.  ...  In  the  case  of  the  Dorchester  labourers 
the  formal  charge  against  them  was  that  of  administering 
and  being  bound  by  secret,  and  therefore  unlawful,  oaths  : 
whereas  the  real  gravamen  of  their  guilt  was  their  forming 
a  dangerous  union,  to  force  up,  by  various  modes  of 
intimidation  and  restraint,  the  rate  of  labourers'  wages." 

But  after  remarking  that  the  sentence  was  "  too 
severe  "  (March  21,  1834),  it  naively  added  :  "  But 
it  may  be  useful  if  it  spreads  alarm  among  those 
more  acute  and  powerful  disturbers  of  the  town 
populations  throughout  England." 

Edward  Bulwer  (afterwards  Lord  Lytton),  Mr. 
Hume,  and  others  uttered  strong  protests  in 
Parliament,  and  condemned  the  undue  haste  with 
which  the  men  were  hurried  off  to  the  hulks  before 
the  general  expression  of  public  sympathy  could 

J*  IT 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

have  any  effect  in  their  favour.  The  judge  who 
tried  the  case  had  only  recently  been  raised  to  the 
bench.  It  took  him  two  days  to  decide  whether 
he  could  pass  sentence  on  the  accused.  Notwith- 
standing the  many  protests  uttered  inside  and 
outside  Parliament,  there  were  not  lacking  those 
who  supported  the  brutal  sentence.  Lord  Mel- 
bourne agreed  that  "  the  law  has  in  this  case  been 
most  properly  applied."  But  it  was  reserved  to 
the  noble  Lord  Howick,  from  his  seat  in  the  House 
of  Commons,  to  utter  the  most  pitiful  nonsense. 
He  tried  to  prove  that  the  labourers  knew  that 
they  were  doing  wrong :  for  (and  here  one  can 
almost  feel  the  shudder  which  shook  the  chamber) 
did  not  they  hold  their  meetings  at  night  ? 

While  awaiting  trial  attempts  were  made  to  get 
the  men  to  turn  informers,  but  they  steadfastly 
refused.  They  also  received  attention  from  the 
prison  chaplain. 

"  After  upbraiding  and  taunting  us  with  being  dis- 
contented and  idle,  and  wishing  to  ruin  our  masters,  he 
proceeded  to  tell  us  that  we  were  better  off  than  our 
masters." 

At  the  trial  :— 

"  Our  characters  were  investigated  from  our  infancy. 
...  Our  masters  were  enquired  of  to  know  if  we  were 
not  idle,  or  attended  public-houses,  or  some  other  fault 
in  us ;  and  much  as  they  were  opposed  to  us,  they  had 
common  honesty  enough  to  declare  that  we  were  good 
labouring  servants,  and  that  they  never  heard  of  any 
complaint  against  us." 
18 


THE  FIRST          UNION 

Daniel  O'Connell,  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
read  a  letter  from  a  solicitor  who  was  present  at 
the  trial,  in  which  it  was  stated : — 

"  This  evidence  was  given  in  a  very  loose  and  indistinct 
manner  and  varied  very  materially  from  the  depositions 
of  the  same  witnesses  taken  before  the  County  magis- 
trates. On  the  principal  point,  the  taking  of  an  oath, 
the  witnesses  stated  that  they  could  not  recollect  what 
was  said.  The  Counsel  for  the  Prosecution  in  vain 
endeavoured  to  elicit  such  answers  as  would  have  sup- 
ported the  indictment ;  and  such  answers  as  were  at 
last  drawn  from  them  with  great  difficulty,  were  suggested 
to  them  in  the  form  of  leading  questions,  by  the  judge 
reading  from  the  depositions." 

After  sentence  was  passed,  and  as  the  prisoners 
were  being  led  away,  James  Loveless  scribbled 
some  verses  on  a  piece  of  paper  and  threw  it  among 
the  crowd. 

This  is  one  of  the  verses : — 

"  God  is  our  guide !  no  swords  we  draw, 
We  kindle  not  war's  battle  fires  ; 
By  reason,  union,  justice,  law, 
We  claim  the  birthright  of  our  sires. 
We  raise  the  watchword  liberty. 
We  will,  we  will,  we  will  be  free !  " 

But  the  matter  was  not  allowed  to  rest.  Public 
meetings  of  protest  were  held  all  over  the  country. 
Within  seven  days  of  the  trial  William  Cobbett 
presented  at  the  bar  of  the  House  of  Commons 
a  petition  signed  by  twelve  thousand  persons  in 
London. 

19 


VILLAGE      TRADE       UNIONS 

Meanwhile  the  whole  of  the  Trade  Union  move- 
ment threw  itself  into  the  task  of  organizing  a 
monster  procession  to  present  a  petition.  The 
petition  was  signed  by  over  250,000  persons.  The 
Government  became  alarmed.  Troops  were  hurried 
to  London  and  special  constables  sworn  in.  But 
they  were  not  required.  The  demonstrators  were 
quite  orderly.  The  Prime  Minister,  Lord  Melbourne, 
refused  to  receive  any  deputations  or  petitions 
from  the  processionists.  Nevertheless  they  marched 
through  London  and  held  a  demonstration  in 
Copenhagen  Fields.  Accounts  vary  as  to  the 
numbers  taking  part  in  the  procession.  The  Trade 
Unions  declared  that  from  one  hundred  thousand 
to  two  hundred  thousand  were  present. 

Edward  Bulwer,  in  the  House,  referred  to  the 
"  countless  thousands  who  swept  the  streets  of 
the  metropolis  in  such  orderly  and  formidable 
procession."  Whatever  the  exact  figure  might 
have  been,  the  demonstration  was  of  a  monster 
size.  Nothing  like  it  had  ever  been  witnessed  in 
London  before.  It  was  the  first  of  the  great 
demonstrations  which  have  since  become  a  popular 
method  of  influencing  politics. 

The  Government  refused  to  recant,  and  the 
men  were  sent  to  Botany  Bay.  However,  a  body 
of  workmen,  known  as  the  London  Dorchester 
Committee,  kept  up  the  agitation  for  release, 
and  collected  £1,300  on  behalf  of  the  victims. 
After  two  years'  unceasing  agitation  they  succeeded 
in  inducing  the  same  Government  that  banished 
the  men  to  issue  a  pardon.  The  funds  collected 
20 


THE  FIRST          UNION 

enabled  the  committee  eventually  to  place  five 
of  the  men  and  their  families  on  small  farms  in 
Essex,  and  to  return  the  sixth  to  his  native  place. 
George  Loveless  eventually  emigrated  to  Canada, 
and  in  1873  was  reported  to  be  "  in  very  prosperous 
circumstances." 

"  This  cruel  abuse  of  judicial  power,"  says  Hasbach, 
"  only  comprehensible  in  view  of  the  dread  which  had 
been  aroused  by  the  Trade  Unions,  kept  the  labourers 
from  advancing  along  this  road  through  one  of  the  saddest 
periods  of  their  history." 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

days ;  in  Cambridgeshire  four  great  farmhouses,  Hert- 
fordshire one,  and  besides  these,  fifteen  other  incendiarisms 
in  different  districts.  December  3oth,  in  Norfolk  one, 
Suffolk  two,  Essex  two,  Cheshire  one,  Lancashire  one, 
Derby,  Lincoln  and  the  South  twelve.  January  6,  1844, 
in  all  ten.  January  isth,  seven.  January  loth,  four 
incendiarisms.  From  this  time  forward,  three  or  four 
incendiarisms  per  week  are  reported,  and  not  as  formerly 
until  the  spring  only,  but  far  into  July  and  August.  And 
that  crimes  of  this  sort  are  expected  to  increase  in  the 
approaching  hard  season  of  1844-45,  the  English  papers 
already  indicate." 

The  flaring  ricks  and  smouldering  barns  were 
beacon  fires  flashing  out  messages  which  few  could 
interpret,  certainly  no  one  in  the  agricultural 
districts.  They  were  signals  of  distress  from  a 
sullen,  despairing  peasantry. 

The  boom  in  industrial  prosperity  which  took 
place  in  the  thirties  eased  the  situation  for  a  great 
many  farm  labourers.  Many  migrated  to  the 
towns,  while  others  left  the  land  to  become  navvies 
on  the  railways,  which  began  to  be  constructed 
all  over  the  country.  Many,  too,  who  remained 
on  the  land,  worked  on  the  railways  during  the 
winter  months. 

Wages  in  agriculture  generally  did  not  improve. 
Three  years  after  the  Union  had  been  suppressed, 
when  the  agricultural  situation  had  improved, 
the  average  wage  for  Dorset  was  75.  6d.  a  week, 
and  in  only  two  counties  in  the  West  Midland  and 
South-Western  area  did  wages  average  los.  a 
week.  Between  1837  an^  I^5O  ^sh  wages  fell  in 
every  part  of  England,  in  the  West  Midlands  and 
24 


THE          INTERVAL 

South-Western  division  from  8s.  lod.  to  73.  2d. 
a  week.1  It  must  be  remembered  that  these  figures 
represented  the  average.  Therefore,  while  some 
labourers  were  receiving  more  than  75.  2d.  a  week, 
many,  especially  in  Devon  and  Dorset,  were  re- 
ceiving less. 

After  1850  wages  gradually  rose,  until,  in  1870, 
the  average  for  England  was  I2s.  4£d.  In  addition 
to  his  cash  wage,  the  labourer  in  some  cases  received 
allowances  and  perquisites,  such  as  a  free  or  low- 
rented  cottage,  a  strip  of  potato  ground,  fuel,  and 
beer  or  cider.  The  value  of  such  allowances  varied 
in  different  districts.  In  some  parishes  the  ordinary 
labourer  received  nothing  but  his  wage.  In  North 
Devon,  in  1866,  according  to  Canon  Girdlestone, 
the  ordinary  labourer  received  no  privileges  what- 
ever. Thus  in  thirty-three  years  the  average 
weekly  wage  for  England  had  risen  by  2s.  In  some 
districts  the  increase  was  very  slight.  In  Norfolk 
average  wages  had  only  risen  id.  a  week  since  1837, 
and  stood  at  los.  5d.  in  1870.  Wages  in  Suffolk 
rose  6d.  a  week  during  the  same  period.  Colour  is 
given  to  these  statistics  by  the  evidence  before 
the  Royal  Commission,  which  reported  in  1867. 
The  commissioner  for  Dorset,  Kent,  Chester,  Salop, 
Staffordshire,  and  Rutland  reported  that  in  all 
six  counties  the  greater  number  of  agricultural 
labourers  were  sadly  underfed. 

In  order  to  subsist,  whole  families  had  to  work 
in  the  fields.     One  of  the  great  abuses  of  the  period 
1830-67  was  the  exploitation  of    the    labour    of 
1   See  Appendix  I. 

25 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

days ;  in  Cambridgeshire  four  great  farmhouses,  Hert- 
fordshire one,  and  besides  these,  fifteen  other  incendiarisms 
in  different  districts.  December  soth,  in  Norfolk  one, 
Suffolk  two,  Essex  two,  Cheshire  one,  Lancashire  one, 
Derby,  Lincoln  and  the  South  twelve.  January  6,  1844, 
in  all  ten.  January  13th,  seven.  January  aoth,  four 
incendiarisms.  From  this  time  forward,  three  or  four 
incendiarisms  per  week  are  reported,  and  not  as  formerly 
until  the  spring  only,  but  far  into  July  and  August.  And 
that  crimes  of  this  sort  are  expected  to  increase  in  the 
approaching  hard  season  of  1844-45,  the  English  papers 
already  indicate." 

The  flaring  ricks  and  smouldering  barns  were 
beacon  fires  flashing  out  messages  which  few  could 
interpret,  certainly  no  one  in  the  agricultural 
districts.  They  were  signals  of  distress  from  a 
sullen,  despairing  peasantry. 

The  boom  in  industrial  prosperity  which  took 
place  in  the  thirties  eased  the  situation  for  a  great 
many  farm  labourers.  Many  migrated  to  the 
towns,  while  others  left  the  land  to  become  navvies 
on  the  railways,  which  began  to  be  constructed 
all  over  the  country.  Many,  too,  who  remained 
on  the  land,  worked  on  the  railways  during  the 
winter  months. 

Wages  in  agriculture  generally  did  not  improve. 
Three  years  after  the  Union  had  been  suppressed, 
when  the  agricultural  situation  had  improved, 
the  average  wage  for  Dorset  was  75.  6d.  a  week, 
and  in  only  two  counties  in  the  West  Midland  and 
South-Western  area  did  wages  average  los.  a 
week.  Between  1837  an^  *&5°  cash  wages  fell  in 
every  part  of  England,  in  the  West  Midlands  and 
24 


THE          INTERVAL 

South- Western  division  from  8s.  lod.  to  73.  zd. 
a  week.1  It  must  be  remembered  that  these  figures 
represented  the  average.  Therefore,  while  some 
labourers  were  receiving  more  than  73.  2d.  a  week, 
many,  especially  in  Devon  and  Dorset,  were  re- 
ceiving less. 

After  1850  wages  gradually  rose,  until,  in  1870, 
the  average  for  England  was  I2s.  4$d.  In  addition 
to  his  cash  wage,  the  labourer  in  some  cases  received 
allowances  and  perquisites,  such  as  a  free  or  low- 
rented  cottage,  a  strip  of  potato  ground,  fuel,  and 
beer  or  cider.  The  value  of  such  allowances  varied 
in  different  districts.  In  some  parishes  the  ordinary 
labourer  received  nothing  but  his  wage.  In  North 
Devon,  in  1866,  according  to  Canon  Girdlestone, 
the  ordinary  labourer  received  no  privileges  what- 
ever. Thus  in  thirty-three  years  the  average 
weekly  wage  for  England  had  risen  by  2s.  In  some 
districts  the  increase  was  very  slight.  In  Norfolk 
average  wages  had  only  risen  id.  a  week  since  1837, 
and  stood  at  los.  5d.  in  1870.  Wages  in  Suffolk 
rose  6d.  a  week  during  the  same  period.  Colour  is 
given  to  these  statistics  by  the  evidence  before 
the  Royal  Commission,  which  reported  in  1867. 
The  commissioner  for  Dorset,  Kent,  Chester,  Salop, 
Staffordshire,  and  Rutland  reported  that  in  all 
six  counties  the  greater  number  of  agricultural 
labourers  were  sadly  underfed. 

In  order  to  subsist,  whole  families  had  to  work 
in  the  fields.     One  of  the  great  abuses  of  the  period 
1830-67  was  the   exploitation  of    the    labour    of 
*   See  Appendix  I. 

25 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

women  and  children.  By  1843  it  was  the  excep- 
tion to  find  a  district  where  they  were  not  employed 
in  agricultural  work.  A  man's  attempt  to  increase 
his  family  income  by  means  of  the  labour  of  his 
wife  and  children  brought  that  labour  into  compe- 
tition with  his  own.  The  result  was  that  the  total 
family  income  was  rarely  above  subsistence  level. 
Children  of  tender  years  were  forced  to  work  in 
the  fields,  and  boys  of  nine,  and  even  seven,  and 
girls  between  the  ages  of  twelve  and  sixteen,  found 
constant  employment  at  stone-picking,  bird-scaring, 
potato-setting,  and  weeding.  Women  were  usually 
employed  in  weeding  and  hoeing,  but  in  some 
districts  they  might  be  found  acting  as  carters, 
and  doing  other  work  usually  performed  by  men. 
It  became  customary  for  men  and  women  and 
children  to  work  in  gangs,  tramping  from  place  to 
place  in  charge  of  gang-masters,  who  entered  into 
contracts  with  farmers  for  the  performance  of  field 
work.  This  rough,  nomadic  life  deprived  the 
children  of  their  scant  opportunities  for  education, 
and  subjected  them  to  much  physical  hardship. 
Women  and  girls  worked  alongside  men  in  the 
fields,  and,  when  distance  prevented  them  from 
tramping  to  and  from  their  homes,  they  were 
compelled  to  lodge  promiscuously  in  barns  and 
outhouses.  The  result  was  grave  moral  deteriora- 
tion. Speaking  of  the  gang  system,  Joseph  Arch 
says:— 

"  There  was  no  limit  as  to  age,  and  I  have  seen  little 
mites  of  things  in  potato  fields  who  were  hardly  old  enough 
to  walk  ;  and  I  have  seen  poor  little  toddlers  set  to  turnip- 
26 


THE          INTERVAL 

singling  when  they  should  have  been  indoors  with  their 
mother." 


In  1843  Special  Commissioners  appointed  by 
the  Poor  Law  Commission  reported  on  the  serious 
consequences  of  the  system,  but  it  was  not  until 
1867  that  the  Gangs  Act  was  passed.  This  Act 
provided  for  the  separation  of  the  sexes  into  their 
own  gangs,  and  forbade  the  employment  of  children 
under  eight  years  of  age. 

In  those  days  thousands  of  farm  labourers' 
children  were  deprived  of  opportunities  of  education. 
If  a  lad  attended  school  at  all,  the  circumstances 
of  the  family  often  made  it  necessary  for  him  to 
be  taken  away  at  an  early  age  in  order  to  augment 
the  family  income.  The  country-side  acquiesced, 
for  education  was  considered  the  privilege  of  the 
farmer,  the  tradespeople,  and  the  gentry.  The 
farm  labourer  needed  only  strong  arms,  not  active 
brains.  The  schools  that  existed  in  the  villages 
were  mostly  voluntary,  and  dominated  by  the 
clergy.  It  was  not  thought  necessary  to  give  a 
village  child  the  opportunity  of  acquiring  more 
than  a  few  scraps  of  rudimentary  knowledge.  An 
imperfect  acquaintance  with  the  "  three  R's  "  was 
considered  enough,  provided  the  child  could  recite 
the  Creed,  the  Commandments,  and  the  Lord's 
Prayer.  At  Leamington  in  1872,  at  the  first  farm 
labourers'  conference,  an  old  man  who  rose  to 
speak  said :  "  All  as  ever  I  larnt  were  the  Creed, 
the  Commandments,  and  the  Lord's  Prayer,  an' 
I  war  thout  fit  to  go  thru  the  world,  tho'  I  didna 

27 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

know  what  any  on  'em  meant,  ony  the  letter 
loike."  Speaker  after  speaker  prefaced  his  observa- 
tions with  the  apology :  "  I  hav'n't  no  larnin'." 
"  I  never  had  no  schoolin'  as  I  knows  on." 

Many  farm  labourers,  rather  than  see  their  families 
starve,  stole  turnips  and  potatoes  from  the  farmers' 
fields,  or  knocked  over  a  pheasant  or  a  hare.  And 
though  they  might  starve  and  retain  their  honour 
and  liberty,  if  distress  drove  them  to  steal  turnips 
or  poach  for  game  they  became  criminals,  and, 
if  caught,  were  sent  to  prison.  To  be  caught 
taking  game  a  second  time  meant  seven  years' 
transportation  !  The  pheasant  could  rob  a  farmer's 
field  and  be  protected  by  a  set  of  the  most  ferocious 
laws  which  ever  disgraced  a  civilized  country,  but 
the  labourer  had  no  protection  against  those  who 
robbed  him  of  the  reward  of  his  labour. 

Mr.  George  Edwards  to  this  day  vividly  recalls 
the  sufferings  of  the  farm  labourers  during  the 
Crimean  war.  Bread  was  45.  a  stone,  and  the 
price  of  meat  prohibitive.  Many  families  literally 
starved.  The  alternative  was  to  steal.  His  own 
father  was  caught  bringing  home  turnips  for  his 
starving  family.  For  this  "  crime  "  he  was  sent 
to  prison  for  fourteen  days.  While  the  father  was 
in  prison  the  mother  and  family  had  to  go  to  the 
workhouse. 

Those  who  remained  honest  were  tamed  into 
servitude — a  servitude  more  degrading  than  any 
the  penal  laws  could  inflict.  Years  of  poverty 
had  ground  the  spirit  of  independence  out  of  most 
of  these  poor  helots.  They  had  learnt  by  experience 
28 


THE          INTERVAL 

to  accept  their  lot  as  they  did  the  rectory  soup  and 
blankets,  with  resignation.  No  doubt  alms  were 
doled  out  by  kindly  people  who  imagined  they 
were  performing  acts  of  Christian  service,  and  who, 
in  many  cases,  were  not  themselves  rich  in  this 
world's  goods.  But  they  had  not  learnt  that  a 
certain  type  of  charity  degrades  the  one  who  gives 
as  much  as  the  one  who  receives. 

The  Royal  Commission  which  reported  hi  1867 
regarded  his  cottage  as  almost  the  worst  feature 
of  the  labourer's  lot.  Fraser,  afterwards  Bishop 
of  Manchester,  stated  that  in  his  district  "  the 
majority  of  the  cottages  that  exist  in  rural  parishes 
are  deficient  in  almost  every  requisite  that  should 
constitute  a  home  for  a  Christian  family  in  a  civil- 
ized community."  Many  were  compelled  to  live 
in  their  masters'  cottages.  They  were  afraid  to 
complain  aloud  of  their  misery,  or  even  to  beg  for 
any  alleviation.  To  offend  the  master,  in  most  cases, 
meant  being  turned  out  into  the  road.  Independence 
was  not  likely  to  thrive  under  such  conditions. 

Overcrowding  was  common,  families  of  eight 
and  ten  living  in  cottages  with  only  one,  or  at 
most  two,  bedrooms.  Many  of  the  dwellings  were 
dilapidated  and  insanitary — veritable  hotbeds  of 
disease  and  death.  In  such  hovels  as  these  the 
labourer  lived  on  sufferance.  There  he  might 
exist,  worse  treated  than  the  cattle.  Let  him  rise 
for  one  moment  above  the  level  of  the  brute,  and 
he  would  soon  be  shown  that  it  was  dangerous  to 
play  the  part  of  a  human  being — by  being  turned 
adrift,  perhaps  to  starve. 

29 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

Mr.  Francis  Heath,  in  his  book  The  English 
Peasantry,  writing  of  this  period,  said : — 

"  Everything  was  against  them  [the  labourers].  Badly 
housed  in  most  cases,  living  sometimes  in  miserable  hovels 
unfit  for  the  accommodation  of  cattle,  and  leading  in 
consequence  a  life  of  semi-starvation,  insufficiently  clothed, 
and  subjected  frequently  to  the  brutal  ill-treatment  of 
employers,  how  could  they  raise  themselves  from  their 
unfortunate  position  ?  Even  the  law  would  not  always 
afford  them  protection  against  injustice." 

Canon  Girdlestone,  writing  of  a  village  in  North 
Devon,  says  he  found  the  "  general  sanitary  condi- 
tions very  bad.  Numbers  of  the  labourers'  cottages 
unfit  for  the  housing  of  pigs.  Pools  of  stagnant 
water  standing  in  different  parts  of  the  parish, 
varied  occasionally  by  stinking  ditches.  Heaps  of 
manure  thrown  up  under  the  windows  of  many  of 
the  dwelling-houses.  The  whole  village  was  badly 
drained ;  open  sewers  running  through  the  place, 
frequently  trickling  down  from  the  cottage  into 
the  brook,  from  which  the  villagers  and  children 
often  drank,  and  cattle  too.  Result,  disease  and 
death." 

What,  then,  was  the  farm  labourer  to  do  ?  He 
had  no  prospects  whatsoever,  and  to  talk  of  thrift 
was  a  mockery.  How  could  a  man  earning  los. 
a  week  with  a  family  to  feed  and  clothe  put  by 
for  a  rainy  day  ?  People  talk  of  thrift  as  though 
the  exercise  of  it  is  only  proved  by  showing  a 
balance  at  the  end  of  the  year.  These  labourers 
and  their  wives  already  exercised  thrift  in  its  most 
extreme  and  vicious  form,  and  after  half  starving 
30 


THE          INTERVAL 

themselves  and  their  children  all  the  year  round, 
generally  found  themselves  in  debt  with  the  village 
shopkeeper.  The  necessity  for  such  thrift  was  a 
standing  disgrace  for  a  nation  that  was  increasing 
its  wealth  by  leaps  and  bounds  every  year,  and  to 
the  class  of  farmers  who  were  more  prosperous 
than  English  farmers  had  ever  been.  The  populace 
which  cheered  the  soldiers  returning  from  the 
Crimea  and  the  Mutiny  ignored  the  conditions 
of  the  villages  from  which  the  army  had  been 
largely  recruited. 

In  many  a  rural  poorhouse  were  parents  whose 
sons  had  died  for  the  honour  of  Britain,  outside 
Sebastopol  or  under  a  tropical  sun.  Such  was 
the  prospect  of  thousands  of  English  farm  labourers. 
The  proper  place  for  the  worn-out  veterans  of  the 
soil  was  the  poorhouse.  At  the  end  of  many 
laborious  years  they  were  doomed  to  submit  to 
the  indignities  of  a  pauper's  lot. 

"  Nothin',  genelmen  !  "  said  an  aged  labourer  at  the 
first  Leamington  Conference  in  1872,  "  arter  havin'  kep' 
one's  character,  and  braat — naay  dragged — up  large 
families,  as  is  doin'  creditable ;  arter  havin'  kep'  un  off 
the  parish  ;  arter  havin'  lived  days  un  days  on  a  bit  o' 
bread  wi'  maybe  a  little  hedge  fruit,  or  the  matter  o'  a 
ra'  turnip — nothin'  to  fall  back  on  but  half  a  crown  a 
week  and  a  loaf  1  and  the  country  be  so  rich !  Why,  we 
be  waarse  off  then  the  convicks.  Ween  dun  our  best, 
an'  now  as  weer  old  an'  can  do  no  more,  we've  fourpence 
a  day  an'  a  loaf  onct  a  week." 

Sometimes  a  newspaper  correspondent  would 
provide  a  sensation  for  his  readers  by  a  graphic 

31 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

account  of  conditions  in  remote  villages.  In  1846 
The  Times  sent  a  special  correspondent  to  Dorset- 
shire to  report  on  the  "  shocking  conditions,"  and 
the  Morning  Chronicle  published  letters  in  1849 
which  described  the  labourers'  pitiful  case.  This 
was  good  "  copy,"  but  it  brought  the  labourers 
no  relief.  At  one  time  the  Daily  Telegraph  col- 
lected funds  through  its  columns  and  distributed 
them  among  distressed  labourers. 

On  a  moonlight  night  in  January  1846  "  a  thou- 
sand half-clad  and  nearly  wholly  starving  peasantry 
met  in  a  lane  at  Goatacre,  Wiltshire,  to  make 
known  their  wretchedness  to  the  Queen."  A  thrill 
of  horror  ran  through  the  drawing-rooms ;  senti- 
ment was  quickened — that  was  all.  Nothing  was 
done  to  improve  the  lot  of  the  labourer.  The 
great  mass  of  town-dwellers  were  too  engrossed  in 
the  gains  and  losses  of  an  expanding  commercialism 
to  realize  poignantly  the  hopeless  conditions  of 
the  agricultural  labourer.  As  for  the  philanthropist, 
he  was  usually  busy  diagnosing  the  city  slum. 
True,  the  labourers  did  not  complain  aloud.  Too 
many  of  them  had  wearily  acquiesced  in  the  theory 
which  was  perpetually  preached  to  them — that  their 
condition  was  ordained  by  Providence.  They  had 
not  even  the  energy  or  the  desire  to  help  themselves. 
The  soul  of  the  labourer  was  in  danger  of  perishing 
through  lack  of  vision. 


CHAPTER   III 


"  My  call  is  the  call  of  battle  ;  I  nourish  active  rebellion." 

CANON  GIRDLESTONE  in  1863  was  transferred  from 
a  Lancashire  village,  where  the  labourers  were 
well  paid  and  properly  nourished,  to  the  village 
of  Halberton,  in  North  Devon.  In  a  letter  to  Mr. 
Francis  Heath,  the  Canon  wrote : — 

"  In  North  Devon  as  a  rule,  with,  of  course,  certain 
exceptions  on  the  estates  of  philanthropic  owners,  wages 
are  for  labourers  8s.  or  93.  a  week,  with  two  or  one- 
and-a-half  quarts  of  cider  daily,  valued  at  23.  per  week, 
but  much  over- valued.  Carters  and  shepherds  get  is. 
a  week  more,  or  else  a  cottage  rent  free.  The  labourer 
has  no  privileges  whatever.  He  rents  his  potato-ground 
at  a  high  rate.  Though  fuel  is  said  to  be  given  to  him, 
he  really  pays  its  full  value  by  grubbing-up  for  it  in  old 
hedges  in  after-hours.  In  wet  weather  or  in  sickness 
his  wages  entirely  cease,  so  that  he  seldom  makes  a  full 
week.  The  cottages,  as  a  rule,  are  not  fit  to  house  pigs 
in.  The  labourer  breakfasts  on  tea-kettle  broth — hot 
water  poured  on  bread  and  flavoured  with  onions ;  dines 
on  bread  and  hard  cheese  at  ad.  a  pound,  with  cider  very 
washy  and  sour,  and  sups  on  potatoes  or  cabbage  greased 
with  a  tiny  bit  of  fat  bacon.  He  seldom  more  than  sees 

c  88 


VILLAGE      TRADE       UNIONS 

or  smells  butcher's  meat  He  is  long-lived,  but  in  the 
prime  of  life  '  crippled  up,'  i.e.  disabled  by  rheumatism, 
the  result  of  wet  clothes,  with  no  fire  to  dry  them  by  for 
use  next  morning,  poor  living,  and  sour  cider.  Then  he 
has  to  work  for  43.  or  53.  per  week,  supplemented  scantily 
from  the  rates,  and,  at  last,  to  come  for  the  rest  of  his 
life  on  the  rates  altogether.  Such  is,  I  will  not  call  it 
the  life,  but  the  existence  or  vegetation  of  the  Devon 
peasant.  He  can  hardly  keep  body  and  soul  together." 

Canon  Girdlestone  tried  to  persuade  the  farmers 
to  treat  the  labourers  better,  but  in  vain.  One 
Sunday  morning,  in  March  1866,  at  a  time  when 
a  cattle  plague  was  raging,  he  delivered  a  sermon 
in  Halberton  Church,  taking  for  his  text :  "  Behold 
the  hand  of  the  Lord  is  upon  thy  cattle."  He  asked 
the  farmers  "  if  they  did  not  think  that  God  had 
sent  the  plague  as  a  judgment  upon  them  for  the 
manner  in  which  they  treated  their  labourers,  to 
whom  they  had  been  accustomed  to  give  less 
consideration  than  to  their  cattle." 

The  sermon  raised  a  great  outcry  in  the  parish. 
Abuse  was  heaped  upon  the  Canon  by  the  farmers, 
and  the  clergy  and  gentry  of  the  neighbourhood 
completely  boycotted  him  and  his  family.  As 
Professor  Thorold  Rogers  wrote  : — 

"  Mr.  Girdlestone  had  the  ordinary  fate  of  those  who 
attack  the  doings  of  the  landed  interest.  His  better- 
behaved  opponents  denied  the  accuracy  of  his  statements, 
and  published  their  own  account  of  the  facts.  His  rougher 
critics,  the  farmers,  threatened  him  with  violence  and 
the  horse-pond.  It  is  not  quite  clear  that  his  poor  clients 
thought  him  their  kindest  friend  in  letting  the  world 
know  what  was  their  condition." 
84 


THE         REVOLT 

The  Canon  wrote  a  letter  to  The  Times  describing 
the  conditions  in  North  Devon.  As  a  result  he 
was  overwhelmed  with  letters  from  all  parts  of 
England  and  Ireland  offering  to  provide  good  wages 
and  comfortable  homes  for  labourers.  This  showed 
him  that  the  way  to  raise  wages  in  North  Devon 
was  to  reduce  the  supply  of  labour.  Therefore  in 
1866  he  set  to  work  to  arrange  for  the  migration 
of  many  of  the  labourers  into  districts  where  labour 
was  scarce. 

The  farmers  of  Halberton  went  mad.  They 
threatened  to  refrain  from  church  attendance,  in 
fact  to  close  down  the  church,  to  prevent  the  singing 
of  the  choir,  the  playing  of  the  organ,  and  the 
ringing  of  the  bells.  Some,  not  in  a  spirit  of  worship, 
attended  the  Wesleyan  Chapel.  Here,  however, 
they  were  confronted  by  another  man  who  was 
not  afraid  of  them  :  they  were  told  to  go  back  to 
their  own  church ! 

Between  1866  and  1872  some  four  or  five 
hundred  men,  two-thirds  of  them  with  families, 
were  sent  away  by  the  direct  instrumentality 
of  Canon  Girdlestone  to  Lancashire,  Yorkshire, 
Kent,  Sussex,  and  various  parts  of  the  British 
Isles.  The  men  left  8s.  a  week  to  obtain  from 
133.  to  22s.  a  week  with  cottage  and  garden 
free.  With  few  exceptions  all  who  went  away 
prospered,  and  many  procured  situations  for  their 
former  neighbours. 

The  work  of  Canon  Girdlestone  had  the  effect 
of  awakening  the  labourers  in  the  neighbouring 
counties  of  Dorset,  Wiltshire,  and  Somerset,  and 

85 


VILLAGE       TRADE      UNIONS 

migration  commenced  in  these  counties  also.  The 
dry  bones  were  beginning  to  stir.  Other  influences 
which  sprang  up  during  the  period  showed  the 
new  spirit  which  was  abroad  in  the  country-side. 
Labourers  commenced  to  join  societies,  such  as  the 
Oddfellows,  and  in  some  districts  co-operative 
societies  were  formed.  Although  little  improvement 
was  effected  in  the  labourer's  position  by  these 
means,  yet  they  gave  him  vision  and  taught  him 
to  combine  for  definite  ends.  Here  and  there,  in 
isolated  districts,  Labourers'  Unions  were  formed 
for  the  purpose  of  raising  wages,  but>  generally 
speaking,  they  failed  in  their  object. 

In  1866  an  Agricultural  Labourers'  Protection 
Association  was  formed  in  Kent,  ".to  organize  the 
agricultural  labourers  with  a  view  to  the  amelio- 
ration of  their  social  conditions  and  moral  elevation, 
and  to  endeavour  to  mitigate  the  evils  of  their 
serfdom."  As  labour  was  scarce,  wages  were 
raised  without  much  difficulty,  but  higher  wages 
had  the  effect  of  checking  migration,  and  the  result 
was  that  the  farmers  were  able  to  reduce  wages. 
Agricultural  Labourers'  Unions  were  formed  in 
Buckinghamshire,  Herefordshire,  and  Hertfordshire 
for  the  purpose  of  raising  wages.  The  Hereford- 
shire Union  was  formed  in  1871.  Its  watchword 
was  "  Emigration,  Migration,  but  not  Strikes."  It 
had  its  origin  in  the  village  of  Leintwardine,  and 
was  supported  by  the  Rector.  So  successful  were 
its  operations,  that  in  less  than  a  year  it  had  spread 
into  six  counties,  and  its  membership  amounted  to 
about  ,  thirty  thousand.  Through  its  instrumen- 


THE          REVOLT 

tality  the  surplus  labour  was  sent  into  Yorkshire, 
Lancashire,  and  Staffordshire,  where  the  wages 
were  six  or  seven  shillings  a  week  higher.  The 
result  was  that  in  a  very  short  tune  wages  in  Here- 
fordshire rose  on  an  average  two  shillings  a  week, 
and  the  improvement  extended  to  the  neighbouring 
counties.  This  was  the  largest  combined  effort 
which  had  yet  taken  place.  The  Lincolnshire 
Labourers'  League  was  formed  in  May  1871,  though 
little  was  heard  of  its  activities  until  a  year  later. 

Great  events  often  turn  on  the  tiniest  hinges. 
In  February  1872  two  or  three  labourers  at  Weston- 
under-Weatherly,  in  Warwickshire,  wrote  a  letter 
to  a  local  newspaper,  in  which  they  described  the 
intolerable  conditions  under  which  they  had  to 
live.  Some  labourers  in  Charlcote,  near  Welles- 
bourne,  happened  to  read  it,  and  were  stirred  into 
action.  They  held  a  meeting  at  Wellesbourne,  and 
one  of  their  number  addressed  it.  One  of  them 
had  worked  in  the  Black  Country,  where  he  gained 
some  knowledge  of  Trade  Unions  and  their  prac- 
tices. It  was  decided  to  form  a  combination.  The 
men  made  no  secret  of  their  action,  and  the  news 
spread  quickly  from  village  to  village.  They  looked 
around  for  a  leader.  The  man  they  selected  was 
Joseph  Arch,  a  farm  labourer  and  lay  preacher, 
who  lived  in  the  neighbouring  village  of  Barford, 
and  who  had  gained  a  local  reputation  as  an  orator 
and  a  champion  of  his  class. 

It  was  arranged  to  have  another  meeting  under 
the  chestnut-tree  at  Wellesbourne.  Joseph  Arch 
set  out  for  the  meeting  "  dressed  in  a  pair  of  cord 

37 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

trousers,  and  cord  vest,  and  an  old  flannel  jacket." 
The  fate  of  the  Dorsetshire  labourers  rose  to  his 
mind.  He  knew  that,  if  possible,  the  law  would 
be  used  to  ensnare  him,  and  that  every  opportunity 
would  be  taken  to  ruin  him  and  make  his  life  un- 
bearable. The  scales  of  justice  were  not  likely  to 
be  held  evenly  in  the  hands  of  a  magistracy  of 
landlords  and  clergy.  How  could  a  handful  of 
half-starved  agricultural  labourers  fight  against 
prejudice,  privilege,  and  oppression  ? 

Since  the  morning,  the  news  that  a  meeting  was 
to  be  held  at  We'llesbourne  had  spread  like  wild- 
fire. No  handbills,  no  posters,  no  paragraphs  had 
advertised  the  meeting.  From  mouth  to  mouth 
the  news  had  spread.  The  shepherds  and  horsemen 
carried  the  glad  tidings  from  village  to  village. 

By  the  time  Arch  arrived  over  a  thousand  persons 
had  gathered  on  the  village  green  at  Wellesbourne. 
This  was  the  best  testimony  to  the  spontaneity  of 
the  movement.  The  Duke  of  Marlborough  some 
weeks  later  described  it  as  one  which  had  been 
brought  about  by  "  paid  agitators "  who  were 
seeking  only  their  own  mean  ends,  and  who  had 
succeeded  in  disturbing  "  the  friendly  feeling  which 
used  to  unite  the  labourer  and  his  employer  in 
mutual  feelings  of  generosity  and  confidence." 

Francis  Heath  says  that  it  had  been  arranged  to 
hold  the  meeting  in  a  large  room  at  the  inn,  but 
long  before  the  hour  fixed  the  room  was  filled  to 
overflowing.  So  they  adjourned  to  the  village 
green.  A  pig-killing  board  was  brought  out  and 
placed  beneath  a  chestnut -tree ;  Arch  mounted  the 
88 


THE          REVOLT 

board  and  addressed  the  meeting.  He  spoke  for 
an  hour  amid  breathless  silence,  and  at  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  speech  a  resolution  was  passed  to  form 
a  Union.  Between  two  and  three  hundred  men 
joined  there  and  then.  The  meeting  was  reported 
in  the  Leamington  Chronicle,  and  thus  from  the 
first  the  movement  became  advertised  in  the  Press. 
A  fortnight  later  another  meeting  was  held  under 
the  chestnut -tree,  and  the  crowd  was  even  larger 
than  before.  The  result  was  more  accessions  to 
the  Union. 

Early  in  March  the  small  committee  which  had 
been  appointed  drew  up  the  following  letter, 
which  was  served  upon  all  the  farmers  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Wellesbourne  : — 

"  SIR, — We  jointly  and  severally  request  your  attention 
to  the  following  requirements — namely,  as.  8d.  per  day 
for  our  labour  ;  hours  from  six  to  five ;  and  to  close  at 
three  on  Saturday  ;  and  4d.  an  hour  overtime.  Hoping 
you  will  give  this  your  fair  and  honest  consideration." 

The  farmers,  however,  treated  the  letter  with  silent 
contempt.  They  imagined  that  the  labourers  would 
soon  repent  their  temerity.  On  the  following 
Saturday,  when  the  men  went  for  their  money,  they 
found  the  fanners  obdurate.  So  they  decided  to 
come  out  on  strike.  Two  hundred  labourers  struck 
work.  Some  farmers  came  to  terms,  but  the 
majority  of  them  refused  to  attempt  a  compromise 
and  resorted  to  coercive  measures,  in  some  cases 
evicting  the  labourers  and  their  families  from  their 
homes. 

39 


Farmers  did  not  pause  to  discover  whether  the 
labourer  had  any  legitimate  grievance.  They  could 
only  see  red.  As  Mr.  Jesse  Collings  says, 

"  For  these  men — these  hereditary  bondsmen — to  assume 
the  right  to  make  terms,  or  to  strike,  created  as  much 
astonishment  and  resentment  in  his  (the  farmer's)  mind 
as  if  the  horses  on  his  farm  had  assumed  the  like." 

When  the  farmers  realized  that  the  labourers 
were  not  prepared  to  give  in,  they  declared  that  if 
the  men  would  not  bend,  they  should  be  broken. 
Landowners  as  well  as  farmers  victimized  Union 
men.  One  made  his  agent  serve  notices  on  all  his 
cottage  tenants  who  belonged  to  the  Union. 

"  In  numerous  cases,"  says  Jesse  Collings,  "  labourers 
had  the  brutal  choice  put  before  them  either  to  give  up 
the  Union  or  quit  their  employment,  and  be  ejected  from 
their  cottages.  Respectable  industrious  men,  who  had 
dwelt  in  cottages  for  many  years  and  had  paid  their  rents 
regularly,  were  turned  out  at  a  week's  notice  for  refusal 
to  leave  the  Union." 

The  Times  (March  25,  1872)  wrote : — 

"  The  farmers  are  beginning  to  retaliate  on  the  Union, 
which  they  are  determined  to  extinguish.  As  a  body, 
the  farmers  are  resolutely  opposed  to  the  Union,  which 
they  regard  as  a  most  dangerous  confederation.  Some 
have  already  discharged  all  their  labourers  who  have 
joined  the  Union,  and  other  Unionists  are  under  notice 
to  leave." 

Arch  was  denounced  as  a  "  paid  agitator  "  and 
an  "  apostle  of  arson." 

At  the  Midland  Farmers'  Club  the  following 
40 


THE          REVOLT 

resolution  was  carried  against  an  amendment  in 
favour  of  arranging  a  conference  between  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  landowners,  the  tenant  farmers, 
and  the  labourers  (Birmingham  Daily  Gazette, 
April  5,  1872)  :— 

"  That  this  meeting  desires  by  every  legitimate  means 
to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  the  agricultural  labourer, 
but  will  by  any  and  every  means  resist  the  interference 
of  designing  political  agitators,  who  seek,  for  their  own 
selfish  purposes,  to  sow  dissension  between  employer 
and  employed  in  the  agricultural  districts  of  the  Midland 
Counties." 

The  voting  on  this  resolution  was  even,  and  it  was 
declared  carried  by  the  Chairman's  casting  vote. 
This  indicates  that  at  least  half  the  farmers  were 
prepared  to  act  in  a  reasonable  manner.  Had  the 
Chairman's  vote  been  cast  the  other  way,  History 
might  have  taken  a  very  different  course. 

The  labourers,  however,  were  firm,  and  public 
sympathy  was  with  them.  Matthew  Vincent,  the 
editor  of  the  Leamington  Chronicle,  who  from  the 
first  was  a  warm  supporter  of  the  Union,  adver- 
tised the  strike.  When  the  news  filtered  through 
to  London,  the  Daily  News  sent  down  its  famous 
War  Correspondent,  Archibald  Forbes.  His  articles 
reached  a  wider  public  than  that  of  the  Leamington 
paper,  and  the  revolt  of  this  handful  of  labourers 
was  watched  by  the  whole  nation. 

In  The  Times  (March  18,  1872),  a  week  after  the 
commencement  of  the  strike,  it  was  stated  that 

"the  strike  among  the  agricultural  labourers  in  South 
Warwickshire  is  assuming  a  very  serious  aspect.  .  .  . 

41 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

Meanwhile  the  labourers  receive  a  vast  amount  of  popular 
support,  and  every  post  brings  letters  of  sympathy  and 
assistance  from  various  parts  of  the  country." 

On  Good  Friday — six  weeks  after  the  commence- 
ment of  the  strike — a  great  demonstration  and 
inaugural  meeting  was  held  at  Leamington.  The 
labourers  with  their  wives  and  children,  headed  by 
their  village  drum  and  fife  bands,  marched  into 
Leamington  singing : — 

"  The  farm  labourers  of  South  Warwickshire, 
Have  not  had  a  rise  for  many  a  year, 
Although  bread  has  often  been  dear, 
But  now  they've  found  a  Union." 

The  organizing  Committee  met  during  the  after- 
noon in  order  to  draw  up  the  rules  and  to  appoint 
the  officers.  The  name  given  to  the  Union  was 
the  Warwickshire  Agricultural  Labourers'  Union. 
Joseph  Arch  was  elected  organizing  secretary,  and 
Henry  Taylor,  a  carpenter,  became  secretary.  At 
the  evening  meeting,  attended  by  "  several  thousand 
labourers,"  the  chair  was  taken  by  Auberon 
Herbert,  M.P.,  and  he  was  supported  by  Sir  Baldwin 
Leighton,  Mr.  E.  Jenkins,  M.P.,  Dr.  Langford  of 
Birmingham,  and  Mr.  Jesse  Collings.  An  anony- 
mous donation  of  £100  was  received  towards  the 
Union  funds.  Accompanying  the  cheque  was  a 
message  :  "  The  right  to  form  the  Union  must  be 
fought  for  to  the  death."  The  audience  took  up  the 
battle-cry,  and  shouted  it  in  unison. 

Appeals  for  funds  were  sent  out  to  the  Trade 
Unions,  to  all  members  of  Parliament,  and  others. 
42 


THE          REVOLT 

In  a  few  days  cheques  ranging  from  £50  to  £100 
began  to  flow  in.  Had  it  not  been  for  this  outside 
help  the  Union  would  have  collapsed.  It  would 
have  been  impossible  for  men,  many  of  whom  were 
in  debt  when  the  strike  began,  to  have  held  out  for 
long  against  the  coercion  of  the  farmers  and  the 
insidious  charity  of  the  squires  and  clergy. 

Some  idea  of  the  rapid  growth  of  the  Union 
may  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that  in  less  than 
three  weeks  after  the  Wellesbourne  men  went  on 
strike,  sixty-four  branches  had  been  established, 
with  a  membership  of  five  thousand. 

The  success  of  the  Warwickshire  Union  encour- 
aged farm  labourers  in  other  parts  of  the  country 
to  combine.  Unions  were  formed  in  Kent,  Glouces- 
tershire Dorset,  Devon,  Worcestershire,  and  Nor- 
folk. Unionism  spread  like  an  epidemic.  In  the 
Midlands  an  attempt  was  made  to  form  the  farm 
labourers  of  Gloucestershire,  Worcestershire,  Here- 
fordshire, and  Shropshire  into  a  Union  of  thirty 
thousand  members. 

Joseph  Arch  and  his  helpers  received  messages 
from  all  parts  of  the  country  asking  them  to  start 
Branch  Unions.  It  was  therefore  necessary  to 
think  out  a  scheme  of  organization  for  the  whole 
country. 


.i~*  }.-.••,.  CHAPTER    IV 

THE  NATIONAL 

"  For  we  cannot  tarry  here  ; 

We   must  march,  my  darlings,  we  must  bear  the  brunt  of 
danger." 

IN  1868,  at  the  meeting  of  the  British  Association 
at  Norwich,  Canon  Girdlestone  stated  that  nothing 
short  of  combination  would  effect  any  improve- 
ment in  the  deplorable  condition  of  the  peasantry. 
The  time  had  now  arrived  for  the  realization  of 
this  idea  on  a  National  scale.  In  a  letter,  dated 
April  27,  1872,  the  Warwickshire  Committee  invited 
the  numerous  smaller  Unions  to  join  in  the  forma- 
tion of  a  National  Union. 

On  May  2gth  a  congress  met  at  Leamington 
for  this  purpose.  There  were  present  eighty 
representatives  from  twenty-six  counties,  all  of 
whom  were  bona-fide  farm  labourers.  Mr.  G. 
Dixon,  M.P.  for  Birmingham,  presided,  and  among 
the  supporters  on  the  platform  were  Mr.  Jesse 
Collings,  Sir  Baldwin  Leighton,  Mr.  J.  A.  Langford, 
Mr.  Hodgson  Pratt,  and  other  influential  persons. 
Letters  of  sympathy  were  received  from  Professor 
44 


THE          NATIONAL 

Fawcett,  M.P.,  Lord  Edward  Fitzmaurice,  M.P., 
Canon  Girdlestone,  and  others. 

It  was  decided  to  form  a  National  Union  "  in 
each  county  or  division  of  county,  and  that  the 
National  Agricultural  Labourers'  Union  shall  con- 
sist of  representatives  elected  by  such  district 
Unions."  The  Executive  Committee  was  to  consist 
of  twelve  farm  labourers,  a  chairman,  and  a  secre- 
tary, elected  annually  by  congress.  Joseph  Arch 
was  elected  chairman,  and  Henry  Taylor  secretary. 
It  was  also  decided  to  form  a  committee  of  "  gentle- 
men favourable  to  the  principles  of  the  National 
Agricultural  Labourers'  Union."  This  committee 
was  invited  to  attend  the  weekly  meetings  of  the 
Executive,  and  to  assist  by  consultation  and  advice, 
but  with  no  power  to  vote.  Mr.  J.  E.  M.  Vincent, 
editor  of  the  Leamington  Chronicle,  was  elected 
treasurer.  Messrs.  Jesse  Collings,  E.  Jenkins,  A. 
Arnold,  and  W.  G.  Ward  were  appointed  trustees. 
The  entrance  fee  was  fixed  at  6d.  and  the  contri- 
bution at  2d.  per  week. 

The  Advisory  Committee  was  composed  of 
sympathetic  outsiders.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
this  Advisory  Committee  had  much  to  do  with  the 
drafting  of  the  general  rules.  The  following  state- 
ment, signed  by  the  Chairman,  was  circularized 
with  the  rules,  April  27th  : — 

:V  These  rules  are  not  regarded  by  the  National  Execu- 
tive as  exhaustive,  but  simply  as  fundamental.  It  is  felt 
that  Districts  and  Branches  should  have  perfect  liberty 
to  frame  such  laws  for  their  own  guidance  as  their  own 
special  circumstances  may  suggest ;  that  liberty  is  freely 

45 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

accorded,  and  the  National  Executive  hope  it  will  be 
exercised  on  the  basis  of  the  niles  for  Districts  and 
Branches,  and  in  harmony  with  the  General  Rules  of  the 
National.  .  .  .  Let  courtesy,  fairness  and  firmness  char- 
acterize all  our  demands.  Act  cautiously  and  advisedly, 
that  no  act  may  have  to  be  repented  or  repudiated.  Do 
not  strike  unless  all  other  means  fail  you.  Try  all  other 
means  ;  try  them  with  firmness  and  patience  ;  try  them 
im  the  enforcement  of  only  just  claims ;  and  if  they  all 
fail  then  strike." 

The  immediate  aim  was  declared  to  be  "a  fair 
day's  pay  for  a  fair  day's  work,"  nine  and  a  half 
hours,  exclusive  of  mealtimes,  as  a  day's  work, 
and  i6s.  as  a  week's  pay. 

The  general  objects  of  the  National  Union  were : 
(i)  "  To  improve  the  general  condition  of  agricul- 
tural labourers  in  the  United  Kingdom."  (2)  "  To 
encourage  the  formation  of  Branch  and  District 
Unions."  (3)  "  To  promote  co-operation  and  com- 
munication between  the  Unions  already  in  existence." 

By  this  time  there  were  several  other  Unions 
not  connected  with  the  Warwickshire  movement. 
Some  were  in  existence  before  the  Warwickshire 
Union ;  others,  inspired,  no  doubt,  by  Arch  and 
his  followers,  had  been  formed  independently. 
The  "  National,"  however,  was  not  successful 
in  effecting  the  combination  of  all  the  Unions. 
Several,  notably  the  Lincolnshire  Labmrers'  League, 
stood  aloof. 

The  "  National "  Committee  put  on  record  the 
following  resolution : — 

"  The  Committee  believe  in  the  justice  and  righteousness 
of  their  cause,  and  have  th«  firmest  faith  that  Divine 
blessing  will  rest  upon  it." 
46 


THE         NATIONAL 

The  Congress  was  marked  by  unbounded  enthu- 
siasm, and  had  all  the  characteristics  of  a  religious 
revival.  This  is  largely  explained  by  the  fact 
that  many  delegates  were  Methodist  preachers.  At 
times  the  conference  bore  a  strong  resemblance  to 
a  Methodist  "  love  feast."  In  homely  language, 
these  rough,  unlettered  men  told  of  their  sufferings, 
their  struggles,  and  their  aspirations.  The  speeches 
were  punctuated  with  cries  of  "  Amen,"  "  Praise 
Him,"  and  other  devout  utterances.  The  gentle- 
men on  the  platform  were  variously  referred  to 
as  "  Honnered  surs,"  "  These  yere  worthy  gents," 
4 '  These  raal  genelmen,' '  etc.  The  audience  was  alter- 
nately moved  to  laughter  and  tears.  One  delegate 
said  :  "  Sir,  this  be  a  blessed  day  :  this  ere  Union 
be  the  Moses  to  lead  us  poor  men  up  out  o'  Egypt  "  ; 
and  another  delegate  commenced  his  speech  with 
this  explanation  given  in  a  confidential  tone : 
"  Genelmen  and  b'luv'd  Crissen  friends,  I's  a  man, 
I  is,  hes  goes  about  \vi'  a  oss."  Another  informed 
the  assembly  that  "  King  Daavid  sed  as  ow  the 
'usbanman  as  labourers  must  be  the  fust  partaker 
o'  the  fruit,"  adding,  "  and  now  he's  mo'astly  th' 
last,  and  loike  enuff  gets  none  at  all."  Yet  another, 
descanting  on  the  ways  of  Providence,  remarked 
that  "  little  things  was  often  chus  to  du  graat 
ones,  and  when  e  sa'  the  poor  labrin'  man  comin' 
furrud  in  this  ere  movement,  and  a  bringin'  o'  the 
faarmers  to  terms,  he  were  remoinded  o'  many 
things  in  th'  Scripters,  more  perticler  o'  th'  ram's 
horns  that  blew  down  the  walls  o'  Jericho,  and 
frightened  Pharaoh,  King  of  Egypt." 

47 


Professor  Thorold  Rogers  paid  a  high  compli- 
ment to  these  peasant  preachers.  He  wrote : — 

"  I  do  not  believe  that  the  mass  of  peasants  could  have 
been  moved  at  all  had  it  not  been  for  the  organization 
of  the  Primitive  Methodists,  a  religious  system  which, 
as  far  as  I  have  seen  its  working,  has  done  more  good 
with  scanty  means,  and  perhaps,  in  some  persons'  eyes, 
with  grotesque  appliances  for  devotion,  than  any  other 
religious  agency.  I  have  often  found  that  the  whole 
character  of  a  country  parish  has  been  changed  for  the 
better  by  the  efforts  of  those  rustic  missionaries." 

On  the  second  day  of  the  Congress  various  sub- 
jects were  discussed,  which  shows  that  the  advisers 
of  the  Union,  the  politicians,  were  anxious  that  its 
efforts  should  not  be  confined  to  the  mere  question 
of  hours  and  wages.  Henry  Taylor,  the  secretary, 
spoke  on  Trade  Unionism,  Sir  Baldwin  Leighton, 
Bart.,  on  allotments  and  cow-pastures,  Jesse  Col- 
lings  on  education  for  the  agricultural  labourer, 
the  Hon.  and  Rev.  J.  Wentworth  Leigh  on  co-opera- 
tive farming,  and  Mr.  H.  Brooks  on  the  cultivation 
of  waste  lands.  At  the  end  of  the  speech  by  Jesse 
Collings  the  following  resolution  was  passed : — 

"  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  meeting  a  national  com- 
pulsory system  of  education  is  absolutely  necessary  for 
the  advancement  of  the  social  position  of  the  agricultural 
labourer." 

The  support  given  to  the  Union  by  these  gentle- 
men is  undoubted,  but  it  is  nevertheless  clear  that 
many  of  them  had  pet  schemes  for  reform  which 
they  were  anxious  for  the  Union  to  foster.  Arch 
48 


x  VT    H    E         N    A    T    I    O    N    4..L;,   / 

did  not  deny  that  these  reforms  might  have  a 
beneficial  effect  on  the  labourers  eventually,  but  he 
said :  "  To  raise  the  wages,  shorten  the  hours,  and 
make  a  free  man  out  of  a  land-tied  slave,  is  my  last, 
and  to  that  last  I'll  stick." 

The  success  of  the  Union  was  beginning  to  have 
an  effect  on  the  farmers.  The  formation  of  a 
National  Union  convinced  many  of  them  that  the 
labourers,  were  going  to  fight  to  a  finish.  The 
Warwickshire  farmers  convened  a  special  meeting 
at  .Warwick.  The  Earl  of  Denbigh  was  present, 
and  advised  the  farmers  to  confer  with  the  labourers 
with  a,  view  to  a  settlement.  At  first  their  propo- 
sition was  that  the  labourers  should  send  some 
delegates  to  a  conference.  This  was  declined  by 
the  labourers.  The  Union  was  asked  to  appoint 
three  representatives  to  meet  three  landowners 
and  three  fanners.  The  Union  replied  that?— ;f  j »;! 

"  in  view  of  the  present  incomplete  state  of  the  formation 
of  the  Agricultural  Labourers'  Unioa,  this  meeting  is*  of 
opinion  that  the  proposal  should  be  postponed  for  the 
present;'.' 

.It  was  clear  that  the  farmers  meant  business 
for  shortly  afterwards  they  had  another  county 
meeting.  Finally  they  proposed  that  three  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Union  should  meet  the  Chairman 
and  two  other  members  of  the  Chamber  of  Agricul- 
ture. This  offer  was  accepted  by  the  men,  and 
Arch  and  two  others  were  appointed  to  meet  the 
farmers'  representatives.  In  a  letter  to  the  Union 
the  Chamber  deprecated  the  farmers'  resolution 

D  4-9 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

which  had  been  placarded  about  the  country, 
threatening  to  evict  all  Union  men.  They  also 
advocated  piece-work,  and  denounced  the  system 
of  payment  in  kind. 

"  This  practice  of  paying  wages  in  kind  prevents  a  just 
estimate  of  the  value  received  by  the  labourer,  induces 
unreasonable  demands  on  the  part  of  the  employer,  affords 
facilities  for  impositions  by  unscrupulous  employers, 
leads  to  improvident  habits,  and  increases  intemperance." 

This  spirit  of  reasonableness  was  a  good  sign, 
and  proved  that  the  Union  was  making  itself  felt. 
Some  farmers  had  conceded  the  Union  terms,  but 
the  majority  of  them  refused  for  some  time  to 
give  in.  Many  offered  155.,  but  the  Union  stood 
out  for  the  figure  which  had  originally  been  fixed 
as  the  minimum.  The  Union  succeeded  eventually 
in  obtaining  the  i6s.,  which  represented  an  all-round 
rise  of  2s.  a  week  in  Warwickshire. 

In  all  parts  wages  were  rising  by  two  or  three 
shillings  a  week.1  Migration  had  a  good  deal  to 
do  with  this.  Many  of  the  men  who  had  been 
discharged  had  migrated  to  other  localities.  Some 
went  into  the  cotton  mills,  some  on  the  railways, 
and  a  few  emigrated  to  New  Zealand. 

There  was  a  shortage  of  agricultural  labour  in 
the  North,  and  men  could  obtain  wages  of  £i  a 
week  with  extras  in  counties  like  Northumberland. 
The  influence  of  the  Union  extended  even  into 
Northumberland,  for  in  The  Times  (April  6,  1872) 
we  read  that  at  the  annual  hiring  of  farm  hinds  in 

1  See  Appendix  I. 
50 


THE          NATIONAL 

Northumberland  "  the  farmers  exhibited  a  disposi- 
tion to  give  higher  wages  rather  than  reduce  the 
hours  to  a  fixed  scale ;  the  majority  of  the  hinds, 
however,  stood  out  for  a  day's  work  of  nine  hours, 
overtime  at  6d.  per  hour,  and  a  half -holiday  every 
fortnight ;  Sundays  to  be  paid  for.  Several  of 
the  best  hands  were  hired  upon  these  terms  with 
an  advance  of  2s.  and  35.  per  week  wages.  The 
wages  are  about  £L  a  week  with  privileges." 

The  labourers  had  good  reason  to  congratulate 
themselves  on  the  strength  of  their  Union.  In  less 
than  three  months  it  had  grown  into  a  national 
movement,  with  a  membership  of  nearly  50,000, 
and  within  a  year  the  number  of  members  exceeded 
70,000.  In  June  1872  a  weekly  journal,  entitled 
The  Labourers'  Union  Chronicle,  was  started,  with 
Mr.  J.  E.  Matthew  Vincent  as  its  editor.  Its  full 
title  was  The  Labourers'  Union  Chronicle ;  An 
Independent  Advocate  of  the  British  Toilers'  Rights 
to  Free  Land,  Freedom  from  Priestcraft,  and  from 
the  Tyranny  of  Capital.  Other  papers  were  started 
in  Lincolnshire  and  Kent,  but  were  purely  local, 
and  ran  only  for  a  short  time.  Although  the  editor 
of  the  Chronicle  was  the  treasurer  of  the  Union, 
the  paper  had  no  official  connection  with  the  Union  ; 
it  was  "  a  private  venture."  It  was  used  by  the 
Union  for  notices,  reports  of  meetings,  and  propa- 
ganda work,  but  its  policy  was  not  controlled  by 
the  Union.  Its  sub-title  proclaimed  its  policy  to 
be  much  wider  in  scope  than  the  original  aims 
of  the  Union.  In  1873  (June  7th),  in  a  long 
article,  the  Chronicle's  aims  were  declared  to  be : 

51 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

(i)  Higher  Wages  ;  (2)  The  Franchise ;  (3)   Land 
Nationalization ;  (4)  Probate  Duties  on  Land. 

The  Chronicle  had  a  great  influence  on  the  move- 
ment in  its  early  stages,  and  did  much  to  educate 
the  labourer  in  the  political,  economic,  social,  and 
agricultural  questions  of  the  day.  Many  labourers 
learnt  to  read  in  order  to  be  able  to  read  its  pages. 
In  1873  its  circulation  reached  35,000,  and  was 
rising  "  more  than  a  thousand  a  month." 

"  It  is  no  uncommon  thing,"  says  Clayden,  "  to  see 
half  a  dozen  labourers  sitting  under  a  hedge  at  their  mid- 
day meal  listening  to  a  seventh  who  is  reading  from  its 
pages." 


52 


CHAPTER  V 
OPPOSITION 

"  He  going  with  me  goes  often  with  spare  diet,  poverty, 
angry  enemies,  desertions." 

IT  is  hard  to  understand  why  this  movement  should 
have  been  attacked  with  so  much  bitterness  by 
the  very  people  who  should  have  welcomed  it  as 
a  regenerating  force,  promoting  both  justice  and 
brotherhood.  Had  it  been  accompanied  by  crime, 
lawlessness,  and  disorder,  they  might  have  been 
excused  for  holding  aloof,  or  even  for  hostility. 
Even  in  that  case,  indeed,  there  should  have  been 
men  in  England  with  enough  enthusiasm  to  put 
all  the  wisdom  they  possessed  at  the  service  of  the 
movement.  The  movement,  however,  was  per- 
fectly law-abiding :  the  agricultural  labourer  had 
become  articulate  without  the  aid  of  fire  or  anarchy. 
He  saw  in  union  and  co-operation  an  instrument 
which  would  make  him  free.  He  used  this  instru- 
ment to  protest  against  his  servitude,  and  to  rise 
out  of  it.  From  the  beginning  the  movement  was 
characterized  by  a  complete  absence  of  the  avenging 
spirit.  The  labourer  was  willing  to  forget  the 

53 


VILLAGE      TRADE       UNIONS 

centuries  of  wrong,  even  to  forgive  recent  wrongs 
in  his  desire  for  present  justice  and  future  oppor- 
tunity. Clayden  wrote  in  1872  : — 

"  A  singular  moderation  has  characterized  the  move- 
ment from  the  first.  No  instance  of  a  vindictive  spirit 
has  stained  its  history.  Men  have  been  again  and  again 
turned  out  of  home  and  work  for  no  other  cause  than 
identification  with  the  Union.  Justices  of  the  Peace, 
lay  and  clerical,  have  dealt  out  to  them  a  merciless  justice, 
and  in  not  a  few  cases  even  the  very  letter  of  the  law, 
as  well  as  its  spirit,  has  been  nearly,  if  not  quite,  violated 
at  the  bidding  of  a  relentless  detestation  of  the  movement. 
...  A  thousand  indignities  have  been  heaped  upon  both 
the  Union  and  its  disciples,  but  there  has  been  no  wilful 
retaliation,  no  agrarian  outrage,  no  loss  brought  home  to 
an  employer's  door." 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  influence  of  Joseph 
Arch  was  responsible  for  the  moderation  with  which 
the  movement  voiced  its  claims.  Mr.  Jesse  Collings 
says  that,  in  those  days,  "  Arch's  influence  over 
the  men  was  unbounded,  and  they  would  have 
gone  in  any  direction  he  wished  them  to  go."  The 
Rev.  Attenborough,  a  Congregational  minister, 
who  from  the  first  publicly  supported  the  move- 
ment, said  :  "  He  (Arch)  has  but  to  urge  vengeance, 
and  night  after  night  flaring  stacks  will  illume 
the  darkness,  and  the  whole  country  will  be  laid 
waste."  Many  more  testimonials  of  a  similar 
nature  could  be  quoted  from  the  writings  of  public 
men  and  the  contemporary  Press. 

Yet,  in  spite  of  this,  the  bulk  of  the  clergy  and 
cultured  classes  described  Arch  as  an  "  apostle 
of  arson,"  a  "  paid  agitator,"  and  poured  upon 
54 


OPPOSITION 

him  and  upon  the  Union  all  the  bitterness  which 
could  possibly  emanate  from  intelligences  poisoned 
by  prejudices.  The  Bishop  of  Gloucester  (Dr. 
Ellicott)  presided  at  a  farmers'  dinner,  and,  refer- 
ring to  the  Unionists,  reminded  his  hearers  of  an 
old  saying,  "  Don't  nail  their  ears  to  the  pump,  and 
don't  duck  them  in  the  horse-pond."  He  did  not  in 
so  many  words  advocate  ducking  in  the  horse-pond, 
but  the  real  meaning  of  his  hint  was  not  disguised 
by  the  mere  ambiguity  of  words.  This  unfortunate 
speech  must  afterwards  have  caused  the  Bishop 
much  uneasiness.  It  received  the  publicity  it 
deserved.  In  the  Spectator  (September  6,  1873) 
it  was  referred  to  in  the  following  terms :  "  Dr. 
Ellicott  whose  five  minutes'  speech  will  within 
five  years  turn  the  Bishops  out  of  the  House  of 
Lords."  Here  was  a  Bishop  going  out  of  his  way 
to  besmirch  his  sacred  office,  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  an  avowed  sceptic  like  Charles  Bradlaugh 
was  publicly  supporting  the  down-trodden  labourers. 
No  one  knew  better  than  the  country  clergy  the 
intolerable  conditions  under  which  the  agricultural 
labourer  had  to  live,  yet,  instead  of  aiding  him  in 
his  struggle,  they,  for  the  most  part,  sided  with 
the  farmers  and  landowners,  or  remained  indifferent. 

"  The  country  clergy  of  the  day,"  says  Mr.  Jesse 
Collings,  "  who  knew  so  well  the  starving  condition  of 
the  labourers,  unfortunately  missed  a  great  opportunity 
of  showing  sympathy  with  them  in  their  legitimate  efforts 
to  help  themselves.  The  great  majority  of  the  clergy 
stood  aloof  from  the  movement  altogether,  but  a  large 
number  of  them  showed  a  bitter  hostility  to  it." 

55 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

Rightly  "or '  wrongly,  the  labourers  looked  to  the 
Church  for  sympathy  in  their  struggle  for  justice, 
but  they  looked  in  vain.  Well  might  Dr.  Gore, 
the  Bishop  of  Oxford,  ask  in  1913, 

-  '.'  Why  did  not  the  Church  of  England  years  ago  appear 
manifestly  before  the  country,  telling  what  it  knew  about 
the  housing  conditions  and  the  conditions  of  wages  of 
the  agricultural  labourers  ?  Why,  when  Mr.  Arch  was 
in  the  field  forty  years  ago,  did  not  the  Church  stand 
out  and  say :  '  This  is  the  merest  claim  of  justice '  ?  " 

One  of  his  predecessors,  speaking  at  the  Church 
Congress  in  1873,  while  the  attitude  of  the  clergy 
towards  the  Union  was  being  discussed,  reminded 
the  clergy  that  whilst  refraining  from  interference 
with  the  miserable  wages,  they  should  impress  on 
the  labourers  the  necessity  of  leading  virtuous 
lives  and  attending  the  ordinances  of  religion ! 

The  position  of  the  country  clergymen  was  not 
an  easy  one.  Many  of  them,  though  kindly  and 
conscientious,  were  utterly  unsuited  to  arbitrate 
between  employers  and  labourers,  and,  as  Thorold 
Rogers  aptly  puts  it, 

"  When  the  former  are  farmers  and  the  latter  are  hinds, 
I  generally  found  that  the  clergy  put  a  personal  inter- 
pretation on  the  apostle's  advice,  and  seek  to  live  peaceably 
with  all  men." 

Most  of  them  regarded  the  labourer's  lot  as  part 
of  the  permanent  order  of  things,  and  caught  at  any 
subterfuge,  or  any  excuse,  for  resisting  change. 
".  Setting  class  against  class,"  "  destroying  the 
good  relations,"  were  among  their  stock  phrases. 
56 


OPPOSITION 

They  never  paused  to  enquire  whether  the  "  good  " 
were  just  relations.  Discontent,  however  caused, 
was  mischievous.  It  upset  the  tranquil  equanimity 
of  parochial  patronage.  As  Goldwin  Smith  put 
it  in  a  speech  before  the  Trade  Union  Congress  at 
Sheffield, 

"  He  did  not  deny  that  the  parish  clergyman  dispensed 
a  good  deal  of  charity  in  the  villages,  but  he  argued  that 
the  kindness  is  usually  such  as  tends  to  keep  a  man  con- 
tented with  a  more  or  less  wretched  position,  and  not  that 
more  enlightened  and  truer  kindness  which  helps  hhn 
to  help  himself.  .  .  .  There  is  nothing  which  squires  or 
parsons  as  a  whole  have  striven  less  to  do  than  to  make 
the  labourers  permanently  independent  of  their  bounty." 

Much  evidence  could  be  produced  to  show  how 
bitter  was  the  hostility  of  many  of  the  clergy. 
The  churchwarden  at  Clopton,  in  Suffolk,  issued  a 
notice  that  "  the  society  calling  itself  the  National 
Agricultural  Labourers'  Union  having  ordered  strikes 
in  a  portion  of  the  county  of  Suffolk,  all  members 
of  the  same  in  this  parish  have  notice  to  give  up 
their  allotments,  and  will  be  struck  off  the  list  of 
parochial  and  bread  charities."  In  a  parish  in 
Buckinghamshire  two  young  women  were  turned 
out  of  the  choir  because  they  spoke  at  labourers' 
meetings ;  in  Suffolk  the  clergyman  threatened  to 
turn  an  old  woman  out  of  her  allotment  if  she 
allowed  her  barn  to  be  used  for  a  meeting  of  the 
labourers.  The  pages  of  the  Chronicle  abound  with 
cases  as  flagrant  as  the  above.  These  were  petty 
acts  of  oppression  which,  but  for  the  Chronicle, 
would  most  likely  have  remained  unrecorded. 

57 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

But  one  act  of  shameful  persecution  which 
occurred  at  Chipping  Norton  immediately  gained 
the  publicity  it  deserved.  A  small  strike  was  in 
progress  at  Ascott-under-Wychwood,  in  Oxford- 
shire. One  of  the  farmers  procured  two  men 
from  a  neighbouring  village  to  come  over  and 
act  as  "  scabs."  The  wives  of  the  men  on  strike 
marched  out  to  meet  these  two  men,  and 
sought  by  pleading  and  then  by  ridicule  to 
deter  them  from  taking  the  bread  out  of  their 
mouths.  Some  of  the  women  carried  sticks,  but 
the  only  blows  struck  were  what  Arch  described  as 
"  tongue  blows."  There  might  have  been  some 
hustling.  As  a  last  resort  the  women  invited  the 
two  men  to  "  come  back  to  the  village  public- 
house  and  have  a  drink."  The  men,  however,  were 
not  to  be  cajoled,  and  went  to  work  for  the  farmer 
under  police  protection.  Yet  the  farmer  prosecuted 
the  women  for  "  intimidation,"  and  seventeen  of 
them,  some  of  them  young  wives  with  babies  in 
arms,  were  brought  before  the  county  magis- 
trates. 

The  presiding  magistrates  were  two  clergymen. 
The  evidence  showed  that  there  had  been  no 
physical  violence,  a  fact  to  which  the  two  "  scab  " 
labourers  testified.  The  Union  representative  was 
present  with  a  sum  of  money  to  pay  the  fine,  if 
such  should  be  imposed.  Imagine  the  astonish- 
ment and  consternation  when  the  clerical  magis- 
trates after  much  consultation,  found  sixteen  of 
the  women  guilty,  and  sentenced  seven  to  ten 
days'  and  nine  to  seven  days'  hard  labour ! 
58 


OPPOSITION 

The  Union  delegate  said  that,  had  he  not  been 
present,  violence  would  have  been  committed  in 
court.  The  people  were  infuriated.  In  the  evening 
a  riot  broke  out,  and  was  quelled  with  much  diffi- 
culty. The  Press  took  up  the  matter,  and  unani- 
mously condemned  the  sentences.  The  Times 
declared  that  the  action  of  the  magistrates  was 
"  extremely  harsh  and  singularly  ill-advised.  Such 
a  sentence  staggered  the  poor  women,  and  well  it 
might,  for  it  staggered  the  whole  country."  Is  it 
any  wonder  that  the  labourers  started  to  advocate 
Disestablishment,  and  the  abolition  of  the  clerical 
magistracy,  when  on  the  one  hand  as  receivers  of 
tithes,  the  clergy,  in  the  main,  sided  with  the  land- 
owner, and  on  the  other,  as  magistrates  they  dealt 
out  "  left-handed  justice  "  to  the  labourers  ? 

Much  bitterness  was  caused  by  the  Chipping 
Norton  case.  This  incident  was  an  extreme  in- 
stance of  the  manner  in  which  the  clerical  magistrates 
up  and  down  the  country  treated  Union  offenders. 
Mr.  Jesse  Collings,  speaking  at  the  second  annual 
conference,  advised  the  labourers 

"  that  if  they  were  ever  brought  before  the  magistrates 
they  should  try  and  choose  the  day,  if  they  could,  when 
there  was  no  clergyman  on  the  bench.  Although  he 
had  lived  all  his  life  in  the  country,  and  had  had  many 
opportunities  for  observing  the  administration  of  justice, 
he  had  never  known  a  lenient  sentence,  nor  anything 
short  of  the  rigour  of  the  law,  come  from  a  clergyman." 

While  the  women  were  in  prison  an  appeal  was 
issued  to  the  public  for  subscriptions.     Over  eighty 

59 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

pounds  were  collected.  On  the  day  they  were  set 
free  two  brakes  went  to  meet  them,  and  headed  by 
a  band,  and  accompanied  by  thousands  of  people, 
the  procession  stopped  at  Ascott  outside  the  house 
of  the  prosecuting  farmer.  There  Arch  made  a 
present  of  five  pounds  to  each  of  the  women. 

In  spite  of  the  flagrant  injustice  of  the  sentence 
there  were  found  some  who  organized  a  counter- 
demonstration  in  support  of  the  action  of  the 
clerical  magistrates.  The  Church  Herald  also  lent 
its  columns  to  support  the  two  clergymen.  Thus, 
in  its  issue  of  June  n,  1873,  the  following  passage 
occurs : — 

"  It  is  clear  to  us  that  the  two  clerical  magistrates  who 
acted  so  properly  deserve  the  hearty  thanks  of  all  order- 
loving  people." 

A  huge  meeting  was  held  at  Chipping  Norton 
the  same  evening,  and  nearly  three  thousand  people 
gathered  round  the  wagon  from  which  Arch  spoke. 
At  the  meeting  resolutions  were  passed  declaring 
for  (i)  the  extension  of  the  franchise  ;  (2)  the  repeal 
of  the  Criminal  Law  Amendment  Act ;  and  (3) 
the  appointment  of  stipendiary  magistrates. 

In  justice  it  should  be  recorded  that  there  were 
some  noble  exceptions  among  the  clergy.  Cardinal 
Manning  (then  Archbishop)  openly  sided  with  the 
men,  and  appeared  on  their  platforms.  The  Bishop 
of  Manchester,  Canon  Girdlestone,  Rev.  Atten- 
borough,  and  others  not  only  sympathized  with, 
but  helped  the  men.  Others,  less  well  known, 
but  no  less  brave,  subscribed  to  the  funds,  took  the 
60 


<!KOQ    p    p    O    S    I    T    I    O    N 

chair  or  spoke  at  meetings,  or  lent  the  church 
field  for  Union  meetings.  Such  men  were  the  salt 
of  the  English  clergy. 

Moreover,  among  the  landowners  and  farmers 
there  were  those  who,  more  enlightened  than  their 
fellows,  saw  the  justice  of  the  labourers'  claim,  and 
helped  where  they  could.  Some  farmers,  on  their 
own  initiative,  raised  wages,  and  some  landowners 
reproved  the  farmers  on  their  estates  for  the  way 
they  treated  the  labourers.  But,  in  the  main,  both 
landowner  and  farmer  were  bitterly  opposed  to 
the  Union,  and  did  their  utmost  to  stamp  it  out. 
Landlords  of  the  type  of  the  Duke  of  Maryborough 
assisted  the  farmers  in  every  conceivable  way  in 
their  endeavour  to  fight  the  Union.  He  it  was  who 
said  the  movement  had  destroyed  the  mutual 
feelings  of  confidence  and  generosity  which  formerly 
existed. 

But  did  those  mutual  feelings  really  exist  ?  As 
Francis  Heath  pointed  out,  "  there  was  in  most 
cases  the  confidence  and  frequently  the  cringing 
dependence  of  the  labourer,  without  the  generosity 
of  the  employer."  Canon  Girdlestone  records  some 
instances  of  employers'  generosity  which  occurred 
before  the  Union  was  formed.  The  following 
is  one  :  A  carter  saved  a  valuable  team  of  horses 
which  had  taken  fright.  In  doing  so  he  fell,  and 
the  wheels  of  the  wagon  crushed  his  ribs.  For  two 
months  he  was  confined  to  his  bed.  The  farmer 
never  paid  him  a  penny  the  whole  tune,  nor 
once  went  to  see  him.  After  the  Union  was  started 
there  were  scarcely  any  limits  to  which  some  farmers 

61 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

would  not  go  in  order  to  show  their  intense  hatred 
of  it.  Turning  the  men  out  of  their  homes  into 
the  roads  was  a  common  practice.  In  one  village 
the  men  asked  their  master  for  more  wages,  and 
he  promptly  dismissed  them. 

In  a  village  in  Berkshire  an  old  paralysed  man 
was  turned  out  of  his  home  because  his  son  had 
joined  the  Union.  The  police  were  instructed  by 
the  landlord  to  evict  the  whole  family  from  the 
cottage.  They  entered  the  cottage  while  the 
family  were  at  their  midday  meal,  and  commenced 
to  remove  the  furniture  into  the  road,  where  it 
remained  for  nearly  a  week.  The  old  man,  his  son 
and  his  wife  and  four  children,  were  rendered  home- 
less. They  had  refused  to  go  because  they  held 
that  as  they  paid  their  rent  yearly  they  could  not 
be  turned  out  at  a  week's  notice.  Eventually, 
after  the  beds  and  furniture  had  been  damaged  by 
a  thunderstorm,  they  were  allowed  to  re-enter 
because  the  young  man  consented  to  withdraw 
from  the  Union. 

On  another  estate  the  men  asked  for  a  rise  from 
I2s.  to  143.  a  week.  A  meeting  of  farmers  and 
landowners  took  place,  with  Lord  Harrington  in 
the  chair.  They  decided  to  raise  the  wages  by  a 
shilling  a  week,  and  immediately  sacked  eight  men, 
who  migrated  to  Wales  and  earned  35.  lod.  a  day. 
The  farmers  then  began  to  turn  out  of  their  cottages 
the  wives  of  the  men  who  had  been  dismissed. 

The  Earl  of  Denbigh  issued  a  letter  to  the  tenants 
of  the  cottages  on  his  estate,  insisting  that  all  such 
tenants  should  work  for  the  farmers  on  the  estate 
62 


OPPOSITION 

or  leave.  It  was,  perhaps,  not  an  unreasonable 
request,  but  in  his  letter  he  wrote  of  the  "  paid 
agitator  "  who  went  about  "  deceiving  the  people 
as  to  their  highest  interests,  and  by  fomenting  a 
spirit  of  discontent,  tried  to  dissever  that  bond  of 
union  between  class  and  class  which  had  hitherto 
been  the  bulwark  of  England's  prosperity  and 
happiness."  Such  was  the  attitude  of  several  of 
the  "  good  "  landlords.  Thej'  were  not  harsh  ;  hi 
the  main  they  were  kindly  and  considerate,  but 
they  wrote  and  talked  a  good  deal  of  unconscious 
cant. 

The  bitterness  of  this  period  was  not  the  work 
of  demagogues  and  paid  agitators,  but  of  the  farmers, 
clergy,  and  gentry.  The  simple  fact  was  that 
neither  landowners  nor  clergy  appreciated  the  real 
significance  of  the  movement,  and  the  farmers 
could  hardly  be  expected  to  be  endowed  with 
keener  vision 


CHAPTER   VI 
COLLAPSE 

"  O  baffled,  balk'd,  bent  to  the  very  earth." 

»»&•£. 

PERSECUTION  and  attempts  at  suppression  ap- 
peared at  first  to  bind  the  men  together  in  closer 
unity.  The  Union  seemed  to  be  winning  all  along 
the  line.  Set-backs  here  and  there  were  regarded 
only  as  temporary  checks.  Every  new  instance  of 
tyranny  only  served  to  stir  up  indignation  among 
the  supporters  of  the  Union.  The  men  received 
moral  and  financial  support  from  the  general 
public.  The  industrial  trade  unions  subscribed 
generously  to  the  Union  funds.  Not  only  were 
grants  made  from  the  general  funds,  but  every 
week  subscriptions  rolled  in  from  collections  made 
by  the  workers  themselves  in  factories,  mills,  and 
mines.  A  glance  through  the  columns  of  the 
Labourers'  Union  Chronicle  reveals  the  spontaneity 
with  which  other  workers  contributed  towards 
the  farm  labourers'  fighting  fund.  In  December 
1872  a  great  meeting  in  support  of  the  Union  was 
held  in  Exeter  Hall.  Among  those  who  publicly 
supported  the  Union  on  that  occasion  were  Samuel 
64 


COLLAPSE 

Morley,  Sir  Charles  Dilke,  M.P.,  George  Trevelyan, 
Sir  John  Bennett,  Mr.  Mundella,  M.P.,  Arch- 
bishop Manning,  T.  Hughes,  M.P.  (author  of 
Tom  Brown's  Schooldays),  and  Charles  Bradlaugh. 
Samuel  Morley  gave  £500,  and  many  of  the  others 
contributed  handsomely  at  different  times  to  the 
funds  of  the  Union. 

At  the  second  Annual  Conference  held  May  21, 
1873,  at  Leamington,  Mr.  George  Dixon,  M.P., 
who  presided,  announced  that  23  district  unions, 
with  982  branches  embracing  24  counties,  had 
been  established,  with  a  total  membership  of 
7I'^35.  A  year  later  there  were  1,480  branches 
with  86,214  members  enrolled.  These  figures  do 
not  represent  the  total  number  of  men  who  had 
joined  the  Union.  The  number  of  men  who  joined, 
and  for  one  reason  or  another  allowed  their  member- 
ship to  lapse,  far  exceeded  the  number  at  any  one 
time  on  the  Union's  books.  Some  had  fallen  away 
as  a  result  of  persecution  and  intimidation,  or,  as 
the  correspondent  of  the  Daily  Telegraph  said,  "  grew 
nervous,  and  withdrew  their  names."  Others  had 
migrated  to  Northern  farms,  while  mines,  railways, 
and  factories  continued  to  absorb  large  numbers. 

From  the  first,  even  before  the  National  was 
formed,  migration  had  been  a  method  regularly 
employed  by  the  district  unions.  The  men  who 
went  to  the  towns  were  lost  to  the  Union  ;  likewise 
it  must  be  assumed  that  most  of  those  who  migrated 
to  the  better-paid  farms  in  the  Northern  districts, 
even  if  they  continued  to  pay  their  subscriptions, 
were  no  longer  active  members  of  the  Union.  How- 

£  65 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

ever,  it  soon  became  manifest  that  the  North  could 
not  absorb  all  the  men  for  whom  the  Union  desired 
agricultural  employment. 

Within  four  months  of  the  formation  of  the 
National  emigration  became  an  important  part  of 
its  policy,  and  from  that  time  onwards  was  "  steadily 
and  regularly  organized  by  the  Union  authorities." 
The  Chronicle  consistently  urged  the  labourers  to 
emigrate.  During  the  latter  part  of  1873  and  in 
1874  it  laid  emphasis  on  emigration.  Its  leading 
article,  November  29, 1873,  was  headed  "  Labourers, 
Away  to  New  Zealand."  It  concluded  a  leading 
article,  January  17,  1874,  with  the  exhortation 
"  Away  then,  farm  labourers,  to  New  Zealand, 
Australia,  and  America  !  that  is  the  only  chance 
for  you !  "  Columns  were  devoted  to  glowing 
letters  from  successful  emigrants,  and  Arthur 
Clayden  wrote  articles  urging  the  men  to  seek 
homes  across  the  sea.  The  Executive  of  the  Union 
frequently  issued  instructions  to  the  district  secre- 
taries urging  them  to  encourage  emigration.  When 
trouble  occurred  between  farmers  and  men  the 
Union  could  only  offer  to  emigrate  the  men. 

Arthur  Clayden  in  his  pamphlet  The  English  of 
the  Pacific,  wrote  : — 

"  In  less  than  two  years  from  the  commencement  of 
the  '  revolt  of  the  field  '  over  50,000  labourers  were  on 
their  way  to  New  Zealand,  at  a  cost  of  more  than  a  million 
pounds  sterling  to  the  Colonial  Government." 

No  doubt  a  great  many  of  these  emigrants  were 
Union  men.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  emigra- 


COLLAPSE 

tion  agents  were  active  only  among  Union  members  ; 
but  they  advertised  regularly  in  the  Chronicle, 
Every  week  its  readers  could  observe  advertisements 
such  as  the  following  : — 

"  QUEENSLAND. — If  30  wish  to  emigrate  a  free  passage, 
and,  if  necessary,  railway  fare,  will  be  provided.  Wher* 
300  wish  to  emigrate  to  Queensland  from  one  district 
the  Agent-General  will  lay  on  a  special  ship  for  their 
accommod  ation . ' ' 

Canadian  emigration  agents  were  also  very  active 
among  the  labourers.  The  Executive  of  the  Union 
requested  Arch  to  go  over  and  view  the  country, 
and  to  bring  back  a  report  as  to  the  prospects  of 
those  who  emigrated.  Arch  was  accompanied  by 
Mr.  Arthur  Clayden — a  member  of  the  Consultative 
Committee  of  the  Union.  Assurance  was  given  that 
the  Canadian  Government  would  see  that  the 
emigrants  were  properly  looked  after.  A  working 
arrangement  was  made  between  the  Union  and  the 
emigration  agents,  and  thousands  of  its  members 
and  their  families  were  assisted  to  transfer  their 
labour  to  Canada. 

The  enormous  amount  of  migration  and  emigra- 
tion carried  on  through  the  Union  may  be  gathered 
from  the  fact  that  in  the  years  1873-4  over  £6,000 
was  spent  out  of  Union  funds  for  these  objects, 
and  this  was  only  a  very  small  proportion  of  th.e 
total  cost  of  transferring  labour. 

Speaking  before  the  Agricultural  Commission  in 
1881,  Arch  declared  that  during  the  first  nine  years 
of  its  existence,  1872-1881,  the  Union  had  been 

•7 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

responsible  for  the  emigration  of  700,000  persons. 
If  we  take  five  as  representing  the  average  family, 
it  will  be  seen  that  at  least  140,000  labourers  left 
England  during  those  years.  140,000  would  be  a 
conservative  estimate,  because  a  large  proportion 
of  the  700,000  would  be  single  men  without  families. 
Joseph  Arch  at  first  was  opposed  to  emigration. 
As  he  says :  "I  only  looked  upon  emigration  as  a 
disagreeable  necessity,  not  as  a  thing  to  be  recom- 
mended. I  could  not  bear  to  see  our  best  men 
pouring  out  of  the  mother-country  when  I  knew 
we  wanted  them  badly.  .  .  .  The  drones  and  the 
aged  were  left  to  become  a  drag  upon  the  Union 
funds."  The  Union  was  obviously  weakened  by 
the  loss  of  so  many  of  its  best  men,  and  many  a 
village  suffered  from  the  absence  of  its  stalwarts 
— the  men  who  had  kept  alive  the  spirit  of  revolt. 

The  combined  effect  of  the  Union's  activities 
resulted  in  a  general  rise  of  wages  to  the  extent  of 
an  average  of  2s.  to  35.  a  week  in  most  agricultural 
districts.  The  Chronicle  claimed  that  "  since  the 
Union  began  wages  had  increased  from  i  to  4  and 
55.  a  week."  Migration  and  emigration  relieved 
many  districts  of  their  surplus  labour,  and  even  in 
districts  where  Union  branches  had  not  been  formed, 
owing  no  doubt  to  the  wide  publicity  given  to  the 
Union's  activities,  many  farmers  "  with  a  kind  of 
instinct "  raised  the  wages  of  the  men. 

Although  the  Union  had  succeeded  in  raising 
wages,  it  had  to  exert  all  its  energies  in  order  to 
maintain  them.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  Union's 
efforts  lacked  co-ordination  and  "  generalship."  The 
68 


COLLAPSE 

guerilla  warfare  that  was  carried  on  was  riot  calcu- 
lated to  ensure  anything  more  than  temporary 
success.  The  Union's  warfare  of  this  period  may  be 
likened  to  a  series  of  outpost  engagements  in  which 
the  men  at  one  place,  and  the  farmers  at  another, 
gained  the  advantage.  In  districts  where  the 
surplus  labour  had  not  been  absorbed,  farmers 
would  resort  to  locking-out  their  men.  In  many 
districts  farmers  combined  together  to  defeat  the 
men.  Thus  we  read  in  the  Chronicle,  May  10, 
1873 :— 

"  In  Essex  and  Suffolk  and  elsewhere  there  is  a  tenant 
fanners'  League  to  destroy  the  combination  of  the 
labourers,  binding  themselves  to  each  other  to  refuse 
employment  to  all  labourers  in  Union,  and  not  to  give 
more  than  2s.  for  a  1 2-hour  day.  .  .  .  1,500  men  are 
locked  out.  .  .  .  The  funds  of  the  Union  are  going  out 
£500  a  week  over  the  receipts  to  maintain  these  poor 
locked-out  labourers. ' ' 

One  method  of  strike-breaking  adopted  by  the 
farmers  at  one  time  was  promptly  prohibited  after 
representations  had  been  made  by  the  London 
Trades  Council.  During  the  harvests  of  1872, 
when  some  of  the  men  were  on  strike,  the  authorities 
allowed  the  military  to  assist  in  gathering  the 
harvest.  As  the  result  of  the  protest  by  the  London 
Trades  Council  a  fresh  regulation  was  issued  ex- 
plicitly prohibiting  such  assistance  from  being  given 
by  troops  "  in  cases  where  strikes  or  disputes 
between  the  farmers  and  their  labourers  exist." 

In  February  1874  the  Union  suffered  a  severe 
shock.  One  of  its  Suffolk  branches  (Exning  and 

69 


Alderton)  sent  in  a  demand  for  a  rise  in  wages  from 
135.  to  145.  a  week,  and  the  limitation  of  hours  to 
a  maximum  of  54  per  week.  The  farmers  replied 
by  locking  out  all  the  Union  men.  Other  farmers 
followed  their  example,  without  waiting  for  the 
Union  men  to  send  in  claims.  The  lock-out  quickly 
spread  to  other  counties.  In  less  than  a  month 
lock-outs  had  taken  place  in  five  neighbouring 
counties,  and  also  in  Hampshire,  Warwickshire, 
and  Gloucestershire.  By  March  23rd  2,000  men 
were  locked  out — over  8,000  were  out  by  the  begin- 
ning of  May.  One  authority  estimated  the  total 
number  of  labourers  forced  into  idleness  at  10,000. 
A  determined  effort  was  made  by  the  farmers  to 
stamp  out  the  Union. 

The  Union  once  more  appealed  to  the  organized 
trades  and  to  the  general  public  for  funds  ;  the 
men  who  were  locked  out  in  one  district  were  sent 
on  a  march  through  England,  holding  demonstra- 
tions and  collecting  subscriptions.  A  special  crusade 
through  the  manufacturing  cities  of  the  North 
brought  in  over  £3,000.  In  Manchester  a  great 
demonstration  took  place,  supported  by  the  Bishop 
(Dr.  Fraser),  when  300,000  people  joined  in  a  pro- 
cession through  the  city,  and  the  street  collections, 
"  chiefly  in  pence,"  amounted  to  nearly  £200.  The 
industrial  workers  realized  that  low  wages  in  the 
country  had  the  effect  of  depressing  urban  condi- 
tions, since  numbers  of  poorly  paid  farm  labourers 
drifted  into  the  towns  and  increased  the  competition 
for  work. 

The  strain  on  the  Union  funds  was  tremendous. 
70 


Thousands  of  men  were  in  receipt  of  lock-out  pay, 
and  the  cost  of  the  migration  of  hundreds  of  them 
to  other  districts  was  borne  by  the  Union.  Emigra- 
tion and  migration  could  not  cope  with  the  situa- 
tion ;  as  fast  as  men  were  removed  from  the  relief 
lists,  others  came  on,  owing  to  fresh  lock-outs. 
Attempts  at  conciliation  generally  failed.  Only  in 
Lincolnshire  was  a  settlement  effected.  The  Lin- 
colnshire Labour  League  agreed  to  withdraw  certain 
of  its  rules,  and  the  farmers  therefore  recognized 
the  men's  right  to  unite. 

But  the  farmers  in  other  parts  refused  to  come  to 
terms.  They  felt  that  at  last  they  had  got  the 
upper  hand.  They  were  not  at  the  moment  resisting 
claims  for  higher  wages :  they  were  simply  conspiring 
to  break  up  the  men's  combination.  The  Bishop  of 
Manchester  contributed  an  article  to  The  Times 
(April  1874)  entitled  "  Are  the  farmers  of  England 
going  mad  ?  "  To  judge  by  the  way  in  which  they 
were  neglecting  the  cultivation  of  the  land,  they  were 
prepared  to  wreck  the  industry  rather  than  abate 
their  hostility  to  the  Union.  It  is  true  that  they 
had  recourse  to  labour-saving  machinery,  and  could 
limit  then:  demand  for  labour  by  farming  on  a  large 
scale.  They  drew  upon  the  casual  and  unemployed 
labour  of  the  towns  and  the  Irish  emigrants.  In 
some  districts  they  managed  to  keep  things  going 
by  borrowing  each  other's  men  and  employing 
women  and  girls.  But  such  devices  could  not 
really  make  them  independent  of  the  skilled  labour 
of  the  men  who  were  locked-out,  rather  they 
emphasized  the  farmer's  predicament. 

71 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

The  collapse  of  the  Union  came  in  July  1874, 
when  it  was  announced  that  the  men  who  were 
locked  out  could  no  longer  be  supported.  The  funds 
were  practically  exhausted,  and  the  Union  had  to 
tell  the  men  to  find  work  where  and  how  they 
could. 

It  could  not  be  said,  however,  that  the  farmers 
had  won.  Hasbach  tells  us  that  "  the  struggle 
ended  without  a  decisive  victory  for  either  side. 
The  labourers  had  not  been  fully  united,  neither 
had  the  farmers." 

The  enormous  financial  strain  upon  the  Union 
may  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that  in  the  financial 
year  1874-5  £21,365  had  been  paid  out  for  strikes 
alone.  Of  this  sum  £5,595  was  raised  by  special 
levies  from  the  branches,  and  £12,613  from  outside 
contributions.  The  Union  suffered  a  serious  decline 
in  membership.  During  the  following  winter  112 
branches  ceased  to  exist,  and  the  membership  fell 
by  about  28,000. 

The  effect  of  the  collapse  was  to  shake  the  confi- 
dence of  the  labourers.  So  long  as  the  advance 
in  wages  was  maintained,  most  of  the  men  were 
confident  that  the  Union  could  prevent  them  from 
falling  again  to  their  old  level.  Suspicion  began  to 
manifest  itself  in  the  ranks. 

"  It  was  easy,"  says  Mr.  Sidney  Webb,  "  to  drop  into 
the  suspicious  mind  of  the  uneducated  villager  a  fatal 
doubt  as  to  the  real  destination  of  the  pennies  which 
he  was  sending  away  to  the  far-off  central  treasury.  .  .  . 
The  clergyman,  the  doctor,  and  the  village  publican  were 
always  at  hand  to  encourage  distrust  of  the '  paid  agitator.'  " 
72 


COLLAPSE 

One  of  the  unfortunate  results  of  the  lock-out 
was  disunity  within  the  Union  ranks.  Many  became 
disheartened  by  the  serious  fall  in  membership, 
and  began  to  lose  faith  in  the  Union  as  a  means  of 
improving  the  labourers'  lot.  Some  argued  that 
the  funds  should  not  be  wasted  on  strikes  and 
lock-outs,  but  should  be  utilized  for  the  purchase 
of  land,  which  could  then  be  let  out  to  Union 
members.  An  attempt  was  made  to  settle  the 
question.  Professor  Newman,  of  Oxford,  presided 
over  a  meeting  which  was  composed  of  members 
and  deserters.  Considerable  feeling  was  displayed 
at  the  meeting,  and  the  confusion  at  the  close  was 
so  great  that  its  will  could  not  be  ascertained. 

A  new  Union  called  The  National  Farm  Labourers' 
Union  was  the  result,  having  for  its  object  the 
acquisition  of  land,  which  was  to  be  purchased  out 
of  the  weekly  contributions  and  let  out  to  members. 
Arch  and  his  followers  looked  upon  the  new  venture 
with  scepticism,  and  opposed  it  with  much  bitter- 
ness. The  new  Union  accomplished  little  beyond 
creating  disunity.  It  managed  in  time  to  acquire 
some  land,  but  eventually  the  whole  project  was 
abandoned. 

Things  were  bad  for  the  National,  but  the  farmers 
were  also  in  great  distress.  The  great  agricultural 
depression  commenced  in  1875.  The  rapid  fall  in 
prices,  together  with  foreign  competition,  made 
farming  unprofitable.  Mr.  R.  E.  Prothero  writes 
of  this  period  : — 

"  For  three  years  in  succession,  bleak  springs  and  rainy 
summers  produced  short  cereal  crops  of  inferior  quality, 

78 


mildew  in  wheat,  mould  in  hops,  blight  in  other  crops, 
disease  in  cattle,  rot  in  sheep,  throwing  heavy  lands  into 
foul  conditions,  deteriorating  the  finer  grasses  of  pastures. 
In  1875-6  the  increasing  volume  of  imports  prevented 
prices  from  rising  to  compensate  deficiencies  in  the  yield 
of  com." 

Rents  on  the  whole  were  high,  as  many  of  them 
had  been  adjusted  during  the  period  when  prices 
were  booming.  In  some  cases  they  were  reduced 
or  abatements  were  given,  but  as  a  rule  this  did  not 
happen  fast  enough.  Many  farmers  were  ruined, 
while  many  more  only  held  on  by  living  on  their 
capital.  This  reduced  the  number  of  workers 
engaged  in  agriculture,  and  those  who  remained 
were  bound  to  accept  low  wages.  The  depression 
continued,  and  the  Union  could  no  longer  keep  up 
its  membership,  which  had  fallen  to  24,000  in  1878 
and  to  20,000  in  1879-80.  Lock-outs  occurred 
every  winter.  Farmers  did  not  wait  for  the  men 
to  make  demands:  they  locked  them  out,  especially 
if  the  men  were  in  the  Union. 

Then  came  another  split.  Many  of  the  members 
were  afraid  the  Union  was  rapidly  going  under 
owing  to  bad  management  and  extravagance. 
Their  remedy  was  to  group  the  district  branches 
into  Federal  Unions  in  order  to  exercise  greater 
control  over  the  local  branches.  Arch  was  much 
opposed  to  the  new  scheme  and  spoke  out  bitterly 
against  "  splitting  the  Union  into  sections."  He 
held  that  as  the  Union  had  been  considerably 
weakened  by  the  loss  of  members,  it  could  not 
afford  to  dispense  with  a  strong  centralized  organiza- 
74 


COLLAPSE 

tion.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  central  body  was 
often  out  of  touch  with  the  branches.  It  was  also 
true  that  branches  often  took  the  initiative  and 
forced  a  strike  almost  before  the  central  body  knew 
of  the  branch's  existence.  The  labourer,  so  patient, 
so  long-suffering,  once  roused  was  difficult  to 
restrain.  To  dare  to  join  a  Union  was  itself  an 
heroic  act,  requiring  an  amount  of  courage  undreamt 
of  by  the  town  labourer.  Having  performed  an 
act  so  revolutionary,  the  labourer  chafed  at  inaction. 
Merely  to  belong  to  a  Union  and  pay  twopence  a 
week  was  too  much  like  disillusionment. 

In  1877  a  Sick  Benefit  Society  was  introduced. 
It  was  this,  according  to  some  critics,  which  became 
one  of  the  chief  causes  of  the  ultimate  collapse  of 
the  Union.  For  many  years  there  had  existed  in 
the  villages  semi-charitable  clubs,  encouraged  by 
the  landed  gentry  and  farmers  who  contributed 
towards  their  maintenance.  Many  of  these  clubs 
were,  as  Arch  says,  "  rotten  to  the  core."  Canon 
Girdlestone  had  written  (Spectator,  September  1873) 
of  the  "  innumerable,  bankrupt  village  clubs,  patted 
on  the  back  by  owners  and  occupiers  of  land  and 
by  the  publicans,  where  the  poor  man's  small  and 
hard-earned  savings  are  wasted  in  bands  of  music, 
flags,  and  feasting."  The  labourers  had  been  in 
the  habit  of  contributing  to  these  clubs,  and,  not 
unnaturally,  they  wanted  them  to  come  under  the 
control  of  the  Union. 

The  Union  Benefit  Society  took  over  many  of 
these  district  societies.  They  were  taken  over 
irrespective  of  age  or  standard  of  health,  provided 

75 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

they  had  funds  amounting  to  £i  per  member.  As 
an  attempt  to  increase  the  membership  of  the 
Union  it  was  a  failure,  for  the  younger  men  were 
not  attracted,  as  the  Union  could  not  promise 
them  increased  wages,  and  the  older  men  remained 
on  mainly  because  of  the  Sick  Benefit  Society. 
Thus  the  Union  became  burdened  with  members 
who  were  continually  drawing  upon  the  funds. 

With  the  exception  of  a  slight  revival  in  Norfolk 
and  Suffolk  during  1883,  the  Union  gradually 
declined,  until,  in  1889,  it  had  only  4,254  members. 
These  members  were  scattered  up  and  down  the 
Midland  and  Eastern  counties,  in  what  were  virtu- 
ally Sick  and  Funeral  Clubs.  Most  of  the  smaller 
Unions  had  disappeared  altogether,  though  it  was 
said  that  the  Kent  and  Sussex  Union  still  had  over 
10,000  members. 

After  the  collapse  of  the  Union  in  1874  its  mem- 
bers favoured  political  action  as  a  means  of  raising 
their  status.  It  rapidly  became  a  political,  rather 
than  a  purely  Trade  Union.  During  the  later 
seventies  and  early  eighties  the  activities  of  the 
Union  were  directed  more  and  more  into  political 
channels,  and  the  franchise  became  its  foremost 
demand.  When  the  vote  was  obtained  in  1884 
the  Union  continued  to  lose  ground 

"  largely,"  as  Arch  says,  "  owing  to  the  fact  that  an  im- 
portant part  of  the  work  was  done  (though  by  no  means 
all)  :  the  men  had  the  vote  ;  it  was  as  if  they  had  a  wide 
door  set  open  before  them,  and  they  thought  they  could 
get  all  they  wanted  by  means  of  their  representative  in 
Parliament." 
76 


COLLAPSE 

The  grounds  for  these  expectations  were  to  be 
found  in  the  Radical  Programme  of  the  period,  to 
which  many  of  the  labourers'  political  friends 
subscribed. 

The  general  wave  of  Trade  Unionism  which  swept 
over  the  country  after  the  successful  dock  strike 
roused  the  farm  labourers  to  take  action.  The 
Eastern  counties  took  the  lead.  The  Eastern 
Counties  Labour  Federation  was  formed  with  its 
centre  in  Ipswich  (May  1890),  and  soon  had  3,000 
members  in  the  surrounding  villages.  At  the  end 
of  1892  the  membership  stood  at  17,000,  but  many 
were  in  arrears  with  their  payments.  About  the 
same  time  the  Norfolk  and  Norwich  Amalgamated 
Union  arose.  The  old  National  began  to  revive, 
and  between  1889  and  1890  increased  its  membership 
from  2,454  to  14,000.  In  1891  it  had  12,000 
members  in  Norfolk  alone,  and  its  great  strength 
at  this  period  resided  in  the  three  counties  of  Norfolk, 
Essex,  and  Suffolk.  The  old  Kent  and  Sussex 
Labourers'  Union  once  more  sprang  into  life  under 
the  name  of  the  London  and  Counties  Labour  League, 
and  extended  its  branches  throughout  the  South- 
Eastern  counties. 

The  dockers  had  learnt  one  great  lesson,  which 
was  that  the  existence  of  a  mass  of  low-paid  labourers 
in  the  country  placed  unskilled  workers  in  the 
towns  at  the  mercy  of  their  employers.  One  of 
the  reasons  given  for  the  dockers'  success  was  that 
it  was  harvest-time,  a  period  during  which  employers 
could  not  easily  obtain  black-leg  labour  from  the 
country.  The  dockers'  delegates  to  the  Trade 

77 


V  I  L  L  A  G  E       TRADE       UNIONS 

Union  Congress  brought  up  the  question  of  organ- 
izing the  farm  labourers.  This  they  followed  up 
by  activity  in  the  rural  districts,  and  during  1890 
delegates  from  the  Dockers'  Union  were  busy 
among  the  farm  labourers  in  Oxfordshire  and 
Lincolnshire. 

The  Land  Restoration  League  was  also  very  active 
in  many  of  the  country  districts  about  this  period. 
Its  objects  were  (i)  to  educate  the  agricultural 
labourers  by  means  of  lectures,  leaflets,  etc.,  in  the 
principles  of  land  restoration  ;  (2)  to  promote  their 
organization  for  the  bettering  of  their  condition, 
and  especially  with  a  view  to  political  action  on 
the  land  question ;  and  (3)  to  collect  accurate 
information  as  to  the  social  condition  of  the  villages 
under  landlordism.  Propaganda  was  carried  on 
by  means  of  speakers  who  travelled  from  place  to 
place  in  Red  Vans,  bearing  upon  them  the  inscrip- 
tion :  "  Fair  wages.  The  Land  for  all.  Fair 
Rents."  As  a  result  of  the  League  meetings  many 
new  Union  branches  were  started  and  hundreds  of 
farm  labourers  were  induced  to  join.  In  its  annual 
report  the  League  states  : — 

"  The  difficulties  in  the  way  of  organizing  the  labourers 
are  very  great  in  some  of  the  villages,  especially  where 
the  village  belongs  entirely  to  one  man,  or  where  the 
labourers  live  in  cottages  owned  by  the  farmers  and  are 
liable  to  lose  both  home  and  employment  at  a  week's 
notice ;  or  where  the  breaking  up  of  former  organizations 
has  left  the  men  dispirited  and  distrustful." 

According  to  Hasbach,  at  the  beginning  of  1894 
the  following  Agricultural  Unions  were  in  exist- 
78 


COLLAPSE 

ence :  (i)  The  old  National  Agricultural  Union 
(Leamington) ;  (2)  the  old  but  re-named  London 
and  Counties  Labour  League  (London) ;  (3)  The 
Warwickshire  Agricultural  and  General  Labourers' 
Union  (Leamington)  ;  (4)  The  Wiltshire  Agricul- 
tural and  General  Labourers'  Union  (Devizes)  ; 
(5)  The  Berkshire  Agricultural  and  General  Workers' 
Union  (Reading)  ;  (6)  The  Hertfordshire  Land  and 
Labour  League  (Hitchin)  ;  (7)  The  Eastern  Counties 
Labour  Federation  (Ipswich)  ;  (8)  The  Norfolk  and 
Norwich  Amalgamated  Labourers  Union  (Norwich)  ; 
(9)  The  Herefordshire  Workers'  Union  (Kingsland). 
By  1900,  with  one  or  two  unimportant  exceptions, 
all  these  Unions  ceased  to  exist.  Those  that 
lingered  on  remained  inactive  and  impotent. 

In  1899  The  Workers'  Union,  a  Union  started  in 
1898  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  unskilled  labour 
of  all  kinds,  commenced  to  work  among  farm 
labourers.  During  that  year  over  forty  branches 
were  formed  in  Staffordshire,  North  Shropshire, 
South  Cheshire,  and  Norfolk,  with  a  total  member- 
ship of  nearly  2,000.  No  attempt  was  made  tp 
organize  farm  labourers  in  other  counties.  The 
Union  claimed  that  it  succeeded  in  raising  wages 
in  some  districts  by  is.  to  33.  a  week.  This  success, 
however,  was  only  temporary,  for  during  the 
general  depression  in  Trade  Unionism  it  lost  prac- 
tically all  the  members  of  the  farm  labourers' 
section. 


CHAPTER  VII 
RESULTS 

"  A  work  remains,  the  work  of  surpassing  all  they  have 
done." 

THOUGH  the  Unions  did  not  succeed  in  permanently 
improving  the  labourer's  economic  position,  they 
gave  him  a  taste  of  power.  He  was  no  longer  a 
submissive,  inarticulate  beast  of  burden.  His  back 
had  been  straightened ;  he  stood  erect  and  took 
his  own  measure.  The  Unions  had  given  him 
knowledge  ;  they  had  given  him  a  voice.  As  Mr. 
Jesse  Collings  says :  "  The  labourer  had  learnt  to 
look  beyond  his  village ;  he  acquired  new  ideas,  a 
glimmer  of  independence,  and  above  all,  he 
became  capable  of  active  discontent  with  his  lot, 
without  which  it  was  impossible  to  help  him." 

If  it  cannot  be  said  that  the  Unions  effected  a 
permanent  rise  in  wages  in  many  districts,  it 'can 
be  said  that  in  some  districts  wages  never  dropped 
to  their  old  level.  One  of  the  members  of  the 
Richmond  Commission  (1881)  said  to  Arch,  "  I  am 
paying  fully  60  per  cent,  more  for  my  labour 
since  you  began  this  Union." 
80 


RESULTS 

"  It  was  an  undeniable  fact,"  says  Arch,  "  that  in  many 
parts  of  England,  where  wages  had  been  kept  up  to  twelve 
and  thirteen  shillings  a  week,  they  would  have  run  down 
to  nine  and  ten  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  Union." 

It  was  undoubtedly  true  that,  having  regard  to 
the  methods  of  cultivation,  Agriculture  was  carry- 
ing more  men  than  it  could  efficiently  employ. 
Had  the  industry  been  properly  organized  it  could 
easily  have  absorbed  all  the  surplus  labour.  The 
State  simply  allowed  matters  to  drift.  Its  policy 
of  laissez-faire  amounted  to  sheer  laziness.  The 
Unions  came  to  the  rescue,  and  by  organizing, 
migration,  and  emigration  performed  a  national 
service. 

Co-operation  with  his  fellows  for  common  ends 
awakened  the  labourer's  intelligence.  The  Chronicle 
gave  him  a  taste  for  reading  and  widened  his  out- 
look. A  discerning  contributor  to  the  Congrega- 
tionalist  wrote,  in  1876  : — 

"  The  change  which  has  taken  place  in  the  ordinary 
conversation  of  the  village  is  extremely  remarkable,  and 
must  be  regarded  as  indicating  an  entire  revolution  in 
thought  and  in  manner  of  life." 

Professor  Thorold  Rogers,  speaking  at  a  meeting 
in  Oxford  in  1878,  said  that  a  squire  who  lived 
near  Oxford  had  told  him  that  "  he  was  extremely 
thankful  that  the  Labourers'  Union  had  come  into 
the  parish,  where  he  owned  every  inch  of  land. 
It  had  raised  the  men  to  a  higher  level,  and  in  some 
districts  this  Union  .  .  .  had  been  the  cause  of 
the  diminution  of  pauperism." 

F  81 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

In  villages  where  formerly  there  had  been  prac- 
tically no  communal  life,  the  Unions  had  succeeded 
in  drawing  the  labourers  together  in  social  inter- 
course. Though  membership  was  confined  to  men, 
the  men  were  actively  supported  by  their  wives  and 
daughters,  who  marched  with  them  at  the  demon- 
strations, officiated  at  the  social  gatherings,  and 
equalled  the  men  in  enthusiasm.  One  of  the 
delegates  said  that  he  knew  a  woman  who  had 
threatened  to  tear  off  all  the  hair  from  her 
husband's  head  if  he  did  not  join  the  Union  ! 

In  districts  where  the  men  had  migrated  to  the 
North,  the  women  attended  the  Union  meetings  in 
place  of  their  husbands.  The  Newbury  Weekly 
News,  reporting  a  Union  meeting,  said  : — 

"  Almost  all  the  agricultural  labourers  of.  Redburn 
appeared  to  be  assembled  with  their  sons,  and  some  of 
their  wives,  on  Redburn  Common  on  Thursday.  ,.A 
delegate  spoke.  For  three  hours  in  a  bitter  cold  wind, 
they  stood  on  the  grass,  and  all,  especially  the  women, 
listened  intently." 

Certainly,  the  issue  at  stake  affected  women 
quite  as  much  as  men.  In  fact,  the  women  suffered 
rnost  of  all.  The  mother  was  the  first  to  feel  the 
pinch  of  starvation.  In  the  distribution  of  the 
scanty  fare  she  was  the.  last  to  be  served,  and 
almost  invariably  hers  was  the  smallest  share. 
She,  it  was  who  had  to  spend  most  of  her  life  in 
the,  insanitary,  damp,  overcrowded,  inconvenient 
hovejl,  ,  There  she  had  to  cook,  mend,  wash,  iron, 
tend  the  sick,  bring  up  a  large  family,  and  wear 


herself  out  in  the  futile  attempt  to  keep  out  of 
debt.  Her  husband,  it  is  true,  had  to  work  hard, 
and  suffer  many  hardships  and  indignities ;  but 
hers  was  the  greater  burden.  A  hard,  open-air  life 
is  infinitely  preferable  to  continual  drudgery  in 
an  unhealthy  dwelling. 

The  Union  brought  joy  and  hope  to  the  women. 
There  were  the  brighter  days — the  gala  days, 
when  the  branch  had  its  socials  and  demonstrations. 
There  they  joined  together  in  singing.  The  follow- 
ing were  great  favourites  in  the  early  days : — 

STAND   LIKE   THE  BRAVE. 

O  workmen  awake,  for  the  strife  is  at  hand  ; 

With  right  on  your  side,  then,  with  hope  firmly  stand; 

To  meet  your  oppressors,  go,  fearlessly  go, 

And  stand  like  the  brave,  with  your  face  to  the  foe. 

Stand  like  the  brave,  stand  like  the  brave  ; 

Oh,  stand  like  the  brave,  with  your  face  to  the  foe. 

Whatever 's  the  danger,  take  heed  and  beware, 
And  turn  not  your  back — for  no  armour  is  there  ; 
Seek  righteous  reward  for  your  labour — then  go 
And  stand  like  the  brave,  with  your  face  to  the  foe. 

The  cause  of  each  other  with  vigour  defend, 

Be  honest  and  true,  and  fight  to  the  end  ; 

Where  duty  may  lead  you  go,  fearlessly  go, 

And  stand  like  the  brave,  with  your  face  to  the  foe. 

Let  hope,  then,  still  cheer  us  ;    though  long  be  the  strife, 
More  comforts  shall  come  to  the  workman's  home  life ; 
More  food  for  our  children  ;   demand  it,  then  go 
And  stand  like  the  brave,  with  your  face  to  the  foe 

S3 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

Press  on,  never  doubting  redemption  draws  near — 
Poor  serfs  shall  arise  from  oppression  and  fear ; 
Though  great  ones  oppose  you,  they  cannot  o'erthrow 
If  you  stand  like  the  brave,  with  your  face  to  the  foe. 

THE   FINE  OLD  ENGLISH  LABOURER. 

Come,  lads,  and  listen  to  my  song,  a  song  of  honest  toil. 
'Tis  of  the  English  labourer,  the  tiller  of  the  soil ; 
I'll  tell  you  how  he  used  to  fare,  and  all  the  ills  he  bore, 
Till  he  stood  up  in  his  manhood,  resolved  to  bear  no  more. 
This  fine  old  English  labourer,  one  of  the  present  time. 

He  used  to  take  whatever  wage  the  farmer  chose  to  pay, 
And  work  as  hard  as  any  horse  for  eighteenpence  a  day ; 
Or  if  he  grumbled  at  the  nine,  and  dared  to  ask  for  ten, 
The  angry  farmer  cursed  and  swore,  and  sacked  him 
there  and  then. 

He  used  to  tramp  off  to  his  work  while  town  folk  were  abed, 
With  nothing  in  his  belly  but  a  slice  or  two  of  bread ; 
He  dined  upon  potatoes,  and  he  never  dreamed  of  meat, 
Except  a  lump  of  bacon  fat  sometimes  by  way  of  treat. 

He  used  to  find  it  hard  enough  to  give  his  children  food, 
But  sent  them  to  the  village  school  as  often  as  he  could  ; 
But  though  he  knew  that  school  was  good,  they  must 

have  bread  and  clothes, 
So  he  had  to  send  them  to  the  fields  to  scare  away  the 

crows. 

He  used  to  walk  along  the  fields  and  see  his  landlord's 

game 
Devour  his  master's  growing  crops,  and  think  it  was  a 

shame ; 

But  if  the  keeper  found  on  him  a  rabbit  or  a  wire, 
He  got  it  hot  when  brought  before  the  parson  and  the 

squire. 
84 


RESULTS 

But  now  he's  wide  awake  enough  and  doing  all  he  can  ; 
At  last,  for  honest  labour's  rights,  he's  fighting  like  a  man  ; 
Since  squires  and  landlords  will  not  help,  to  help  himself 

he'll  try, 
And  if  he  does  not  get  fair  wage,  he'll  know  the  reason 

why. 

They  used  to  treat  him  as  they  liked  in  the  evil  days  of 

old, 
They  thought  there  was  no  power  on  earth  to  beat  the 

power  of  gold  ; 
They  used  to  threaten  what  they'd  do  whenever  work 

was  slack, 
But  now  he  laughs  their  threats  to  scorn  with  the  Union 

at  his  back. 

This  fine  old  English  labourer,  one  of  the  present  time. 

Occasionally  there  were  field  days,  when  contin- 
gents headed  by  bands  arrived  from  all  the  neigh- 
bouring districts.  Such  a  gathering  took  place  at 
Yeovil  in  June  1873.  Lord  Edmund  Fitzmaurice 
presided  over  a  large  and  enthusiastic  meeting  on 
Lyneham  Green,  and  letters  endorsing  the  movement 
were  received  from  Samuel  Morley,  C.  H.  Spurgeon, 
G.  O.  Trevelyan,  and  others.  "  Tents  were  erected, 
refreshments,  ginger-bread  stalls  were  scattered 
about.  Aunt  Sally  and  other  sports  were  provided. 
Dancing  and  kiss-in-the-ring  were  thoroughly 
enjoyed."  Thus,  the  regeneration  of  village  life 
began  with  the  Unions.  They  stirred  the  labourer, 
and  gave  him  a  new  outlook  and  new  ideas,  and 
put  spirit  into  him. 

This  spirit  found  expression  in  political  activity. 
After  the  lock-out  of  1874  little  was  heard  of  strikes 
and  lock-outs.  The  Union  concentrated  on  ques- 

85 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

tions,  such  as  the  Parliamentary  franchise  for 
agricultural  labourers,  changes  in  the  land  laws, 
the  democratization  of  local  government,  and  the 
disestablishment  of  the  Church.  These  were  wide 
claims,  and  far  exceeded  the  demands  of  the  older 
Trade  Unions  of  the  town  artisans.  In  fact,  the 
Agricultural  Labourers'  Union  was  the  first  to  enter 
the  political  arena.  It  was  not  until  1878  that  the 
other  Unions  definitely  entered  the  political  field. 

Almost  from  the  first  the  franchise  had  been  one 
of  the  Union's  chief  demands.  The  Chronicle,  a 
week  after  the  first  anniversary  of  the  meeting  at 
Leamington,  placed  this  demand  second  in  its 
programme.  At  the  Yeovil  demonstration  in  June 
1873  most  of  the  men  wore  cards  in  their  hats, 
upon  which  the  following  was  written :  — 

"  The  franchise  for  agricultural  labourers.  155.  a 
week  all  the  year  round  and  no  surrender." 

The  Times,  as  early  as  June  1873,  said : — 

"  We  cannot  think  that  the  question  before  us  is  simply 
one  of  labour  and  wages.  It  is  rather  the  real  and  com- 
plete elevation  of  the  agricultural  labourer  to  a  higher 
and  larger  share  of  our  common,  and  perhaps  we  may 
add,  our  Christian  humanity.  He  is  to  be  made  more 
independent,  more  self-governing,  more  rational,  more  a 
social  personage — in  a  word,  more  of  a  man.  He  is  to 
be  made  really  a  citizen  of  the  great  commonwealth,  and 
more  worthy  of  the  franchise  which  one  day  he  is  to  have/' 

Mr.  George  Dixon,  M.P.,  in  July  1873  presented 
to  the  House  of  Commons  a  petition  in  favour  of 
household  franchise,  signed  by  82,000  farm  labourers. 
86 


RESULTS 

All  through  the  seventies  the  agitation  for  the 
franchise  was  kept  going.  Arch  says :  "I  was 
bitterly  disappointed  when  the  Bill  (George  Treve- 
lyan's)  was  defeated  in  1875.  .  .  .  But  of  course  we 
only  kept  agitating  more  and  more,  and  the  fran- 
chise was  a  front  plank  in  the  Union  platform 
from  this  time  onwards."  At  the  branch  meetings 
franchise  songs  frequently  took  the  place  of  the 
old  Union  favourites.  The  labourers  sent  petition 
after  petition  to  the  House  of  Commons  in  favour 
of  household  suffrage  in  the  counties.  Getting 
signatures  for  these  petitions  kept  the  men  busy,  and 
also  helped  to  keep  them  united.  Arch  himself 
presented  a  petition  seventeen  yards  long,  signed 
by  80,000  farm  labourers.  The  agitation  did  not 
cease  until  the  franchise  was  conceded  in  1884. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  understand  why  the  Unions 
agitated  for  the  disestablishment  of  the  Church  of 
England.  The  Church  with  its  huge  landed  estates 
was  a  part  of  the  oppressive  land  system  ;  it  had 
representatives  in  every  parish,  who  for  the  most 
part  were  utterly  hostile  to  the  demands  of  the 
labourers.  It  appeared  to  the  latter  that  most  of 
the  clergy  were  as  anxious  to  preserve  their  tithes 
as  the  landlord  his  rents.  Most  of  them,  too, 
received  their  livings  from  members  of  the  landlord 
class.  The  squire,  the  farmer,  and  the  clergyman 
were  to  the  labourer  a  sinister  trinity  of  privilege, 
oppression,  and  patronage,  to  which  he  owed 
traditional  homage.  Rumour  had  it  that  the 
parson's  glebe,  no  less  than  the  squire's  demesne, 
had  been  enlarged  by  the  enclosure  of  the  people's 

87 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

commons.  The  suspicion  of  generations  expressed 
itself  at  Union  meetings,  and  the  actual  hostility 
of  so  many  clergymen  confirmed  this  suspicion  in 
the  minds  of  the  labourers.  A  number  of  the 
leaders  of  the  Unions  were  Dissenters,  and  this  to 
some  extent  explains  the  vehemence  with  which 
the  Church  was  attacked. 

The  Chronicle  from  the  beginning  had,  week  by 
week,  bitterly  assailed  the  Church.  It  was  this 
agitation  which  caused  Canon  Girdlestone  to  sever 
his  official  connection  with  the  Union.  In  an 
article  which  he  wrote  to  the  Spectator  (September  6, 
1873),  he  wrote  of  the  "  dangerous  turn  the  agita- 
tion was  taking,"  and  denounced  "  their  meddling 
with  the  resources  of  our  clergy  and  any  political 
tinkering  of  theirs  with  the  connection  of  Church 
and  State."  He  complained  that  the  Union  had 
degenerated  into  a  "  mere  political  engine  for 
bringing  about  a  social  revolution." 

The  maladministration  of  charitable  trusts,  which, 
as  Hasbach  points  out,  "  often  consisted  of  land, 
and  were  not  seldom  withdrawn  by  the  trustees 
from  their  original  objects,"  caused  the  labourers 
to  agitate  for  a  searching  inquiry  to  be  made. 

"  In  many  and  many  a  village,"  says  Arch,  "  the  charity 
land  had  been  diverted  from  the  purpose  intended  and 
enclosed  in  the  farms,  and  when  a  poor  man  wanted  a 
piece  of  land  he  had  perhaps  to  pay  the  parson  at  the 
rate  of  £3  or  £4  an  acre  for  it." 

The  Game  Laws,  under  which  labourers  had  to 
submit  to  the  indignities  of  compulsory  search  on 
88 


RESULTS 

the  highway,  also  came  in  for  a  great  deal  of  bitter 
criticism,  and  Arch  spoke  strongly  upon  the  subject 
when  he  appeared  before  the  Select  Committee 
in  1873. 

The  housing  question  also  was  brought  promi- 
nently to  the  front.  Bitter  were  the  complaints 
against  the  "  tied  "  cottage  system.  This  system 
was  used  as  a  weapon  by  the  farmers  for  the  purpose 
of  smashing  the  Union.  In  one  district,  at  least, 
where  the  farmers  had  given  their  men  notice  to 
quit  their  cottages,  they  resolved  to  let  them  in 
future  on  a  weekly  tenancy  in  order  that  any 
Union  man  might  easily  be  evicted.  The  Duke  of 
Marlborough  in  1872  placed  the  cottages  and  allot- 
ments on  his  estates  in  the  hands  of  the  farmers 
in  order,  as  he  said,  to  keep  the  labourers  in  check. 
In  his  evidence  before  the  Richmond  Commission, 
Arch  said : — 

"  I  think  if  the  farmer  is  going  in  for  tenant  right, 
which  of  course  I  hold  with,  there  should  be  legislation 
to  grant  the  labourers' cottage  right.  ...  If  a  labourer 
has  a  proper  notice  to  quit,  well  and  good  ;  but  I  call  it 
a  monstrous  injustice  that  he  should  be  driven  out  of 
his  cottage  on  a  week's  notice." 

These  agitations  irritated  the  landed  class  beyond 
endurance,  and  to  some  extent  account  for  the 
unrelenting  opposition  to  the  labourers'  right  to 
combine.  Such  agitations  revealed  a  danger  which 
threatened  the  interests  of  the  landed  classes  far 
more  than  a  mere  rise  in  wages  ;  for  the  claims 
which  inspired  them  were  revolutionary.  They 

89 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

stood  for  the  dethronement  of  territorial  power, 
because,  without  vassals,  such  power  vanishes. 

Some  opposed  the  labourers  because  the  move- 
ment might  lead  to  the  dissolution  of  what  they 
regarded  as  benevolent  despotism  ;  others,  because 
in  their  near-sighted,  selfish  way  they  could  see 
their  privileges  slipping  away.  Both  attitudes  are 
represented  to-day.  Neither  is  right,  because 
both  presuppose  the  necessity  for  a  servile  class, 
and  derive  their  sanction  from  traditional 
abuses. 

The  leaders  of  the  Unions,  much  to  their  credit, 
placed  great  emphasis  on  the  need  for  education. 
The  Elementary  Education  Act  of  1870  was  in 
force,  and  the  Unions  did  much  to  see  that  its 
provisions  were  carried  out  in  the  villages.  At 
their  meetings  they  advocated  the  regular  attend- 
ance of  the  children  at  school,  and  tried  to  raise 
the  moral  standard  in  the  home.  Even  the  labourers 
themselves,  many  of  them,  did  not  regard  the 
education  of  their  children  as  a  priceless  boon. 
Rather  they  looked  to  the  children  to  augment  the 
family  income.  Who  can,  blame  them  when  wages 
were  so  low,  and  living  so  hard  ? 

The  leaders  of  the  Union  had  known  to  their 
cost  what  ignorance  meant.  Arch,  describing  the 
difficulties  which  confronted  the  Union,  wrote  : — 

•  "  They  .(the  labourers)  were  obstinate,  suspicious,  and 
stupid,  because  they  were  so  ignorant ;  their  brains  were 
ill-nourished  and  so  they  were  dull ;  their  uncultivated 
minds  were  like  dark  lanterns  with  a  rushlight  inside  ; 
they  did  not  know  how  to  think  anything  out,  and  they 
did  not  even  know  how  to  try." 
90 


RESULTS 

The  Unions  therefore  made  education  one  of  their 
foremost  claims,  and  besides  keeping  a  vigilant 
eye  upon  the  working  of  the  Act  of  1870,  assisted 
the  labourers'  friends  in  the  passing  of  the  Education 
Bill  of  1876. 

The  regular  attendance  of  the  children  at  school 
meant  to  some  families  a  loss  of  three  or  four 
shillings  a  week,  and  this  was  a  serious  drawback. 
To  make  up  for  the  loss  to  the  family  income,  the 
Unions  urged  that  the  labourers  should  be  given 
plots  of  land  to  till. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  Allotments  Acts  of 
1882  and  1887,  and  the  Small  Holdings  Acts  of 
1892  and  1894  were  largely  responses  to  the  Union's 
demand  for  access  to  land  for  the  labourers.  The 
passing  of  the  Parish  Councils  Act,  and  the  Local 
Government  Act  of  1894,  the  principles  of  which 
had  long  been  advocated  by  the  Unions,  synchro- 
nized with  the  revival  of  Unionism  among  the 
labourers.  These  enactments  did  not,  nor  can 
they  of  themselves,  emancipate  the  labourer.  But 
they  have  placed  in  his  hands  a  powerful  instrument 
which,  if  rightly  used,  may,  in  the  near  future, 
make  rural  democracy  a  possibility. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
TWO  LEADERS 

"  They  live  in  brothers  again  ready  to  defy  you'' 

No  history  of  Agricultural  Labourers'  Unions, 
however  brief,  would  be  complete  without  some 
reference  to  the  personalities  connected  with  the 
movement.  Mention  has  been  made  of  the  many 
men  not  of  the  working  class  who  associated 
themselves  with  the  labourers'  cause.  But  the 
revolt  of  the  labourers  produced  some  remarkable 
men  from  among  the  rank  and  file.  It  is  not 
possible  to  single  out  all  the  brave  men  who 
devoted  themselves  loyally  to  the  improvement 
of  their  class.  Their  names  are  legion.  In 
their  respective  localities  some  of  them  are  remem- 
bered and  honoured  to  this  day.  For  instance,  in 
Somerset  and  Wiltshire  the  name  of  George 
Mitchell  ("  One  from  the  Plough  ")  is  held  in  rever- 
ence by  the  older  labourers  who  remember  his 
boundless  enthusiasm.  He  was  a  stonemason  who 
threw  himself  into  the  labourers'  movement.  George 
Rix  is  a  name  that  always  will  be  associated  with 
the  labourers'  cause  in  Norfolk.  Again,  there  is 
92 


TWO          LEADERS 

Henry  Taylor,  the  indefatigable  general  secretary 
of  the  National.  He,  too,  was  not  an  agricultural 
labourer,  but  a  carpenter.  But  the  name  that 
always  will  be  associated  with  the  most  formidable 
revolt  of  the  labourer  in  the  nineteenth  century 
will  be  that  of  Joseph  Arch. 

More  than  forty  years  have  passed  by  since  the 
name  of  Joseph  Arch  first  became  a  household 
word  in  this  country.  To  the  present  generation 
his  name  is  scarcely  known.  In  many  a  rural 
poor-house  and  pensioner's  cottage  the  memory 
of  "  Joey  Arch  "  is  still  enshrined  in  the  hearts  of 
those  unhonoured  but  honourable  men  and  women 
who  in  their  younger  days  were  quickened  by  hopes 
of  a  sunlit  future.  To  them  the  name  of  Arch 
stands  for  that  emancipation  of  which  they  caught 
glimpses,  but  which  they  never  permanently 
attained. 

His  active  public  life  began  in  1872,  when  he  was 
forty-six  years  of  age,  and  closed  when  he  was  in 
his  75th  year,  since  when,  until  his  death  in  1919, 
he  lived  in  retirement.  Born  in  1826  at  Barford, 
a  village  in  Warwickshire,  as  a  youth  he  gained 
notoriety  as  one  who  could  plough  and  sow  as  well 
as  any  man  in  the  village,  and  while  still  in  his 
teens  became  the  "  champion  hedgecutter  of  Eng- 
land." Master  of  his  craft,  he  was  not  content  to 
stay  at  home.  He  travelled  into  many  of  the 
neighbouring  counties,  and  also  in  Wales,  plying 
his  craft  as  hedgecutter  and  undertaking  mowing 
contracts.  In  this  way  he  was  able  not  only  to 
earn  more  money,  but  also  to  broaden  his  mind. 

98 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

Contact  with  different  ^classes  of  farmers  and 
labourers  did  much  to  free  him  from  the  narrow 
prejudices  which  so  often  characterized  the  stay- 
at-home.  He  saw  much  discontent  among  the 
different  classes  of  labourers  with  whom  he  mixed, 
and  he  realized  how  amply  it  was  justified.  After 
many  wanderings,  Arch  returned  to  his  native 
village.  .  Thus  while  still  a  young  man,  he  had 
made  himself  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the 
common  lot  of  the  agricultural  labourer.  One  of 
the  things  which  had  impressed  him  while  away 
from  home  was  the  tremendous  advantage  pos- 
sessed by  a  labourer  who  was  secure  in  his  dwelling. 
The  great  bulwark  of  the  Arch  family  was  their 
freehold  cottage. 

His  father  was  an  ordinary  labourer  who  never 
earned  more  than  ten  shillings  a  week.  The  family 
was  always  in  a  state  of  chronic  poverty,  but  even 
this  could  not  tame  the  proud  spirit  of  the  mother. 
She  hated  servitude  more  than  poverty,  and  it 
was  this  pride  of  spirit  that  she  instilled  into  the 
lad  who  was  destined  to  become  the  future  leader 
of  the  oppressed  labourers.  "  Ah,  my  boy,  you 
shall  never,  never  do  that.  I  will  work  these 
fingers  to  the  bone  before  you  have  to  do  it !  "  she 
exclaimed  to  her  son,  as  the  neighbours'  children 
went  to  the  rectory  for  soup.  She  kept  her  word. 
A  woman  like  Mrs.  Arch  was  bound  to  rebel  against 
the  little  hierarchy  which  dominated  the  village. 
The  brand  of  social  inferiority  distinguished  the 
labourers  and  their  families  from  the  tradesmen, 
farmers,  squires,  and  parsons,  even  in  the  House  of 
94 


TWO          LEADERS 

God.  In  Barford  Church  the  poor  were  allotted 
their  own  places,  and  were  not  permitted  to  mingle 
with  their  "  superiors."  The  squire  and  other 
magnates  sat  curtained  off  from  the  vulgar  gaze, 
while  the  rector's  wife  sat  in  a  pew  in  the  chancel, 
and  the  poor  women  and  girls  walked  up  the  church 
and  curtseyed  to  her  before  taking  their  seats. 
Mrs.  Arch  defied  the  rector's  wife  in  this  as  in  other 
matters. 

Arch  was  obliged  to  leave  school  before  he 
reached  the  age  of  nine,  having  received  less  than 
three  years'  regular  tuition.  But  with  the  help 
of  his  mother  he  was  enabled  to  pick  up  what  was 
considered  at  the  time  to  be  a  fair  education. 
Quite  early  in  life  he  became  associated  with  the 
Dissenters,  who  used  to  hold  meetings  in  a  barn. 
When  quite  a  young  man  he  joined  the  Methodists 
and  commenced  to  preach.  He  attained  consider- 
able notoriety  in  his  own  district,  not  only  as  a 
deeply  religious  man,  and  an  earnest  and  eloquent 
preacher,  but  as  a  good  and  reliable  labourer  who 
could  turn  his  hand  to  anything.  However,  in 
spite  of  hard  work,  thrift,  and  sobriety,  he  was 
unable  to  save  money,  and  he  found  it  extremely 
difficult  to  maintain  his  wife  and  seven  children 
in  decency  and  comfort.  Thus,  until  he  was 
46  years  of  age,  he  continued  to  live  the  life 
of  an  ordinary  labourer.  The  time  came  when 
he  put  aside  spade  and  hook,  and  undertook  the 
task  for  which  his  life  had  been  one  long  prepa- 

.  .        -/:/* 

ration. 
From  1872  lo  1885,  he  was  closely  associated  with 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

the  movement  which  he  did  so  much  to  foster. 
Mr.  Jesse  Collings  says  : — 

"  He  entered  into  the  struggle  with  the  single  aim  of 
bettering  the  conditions  of  his  fellow-labourers  whose 
sufferings  he  knew  so  well.  He  had  passed  through  the 
bitter  experience  himself,  and  had  discharged  special 
family  obligations  with  a  courage  and  independence 
worthy  of  respect  and  admiration." 

His  antipathy  towards  the  clergy  of  the  Establish- 
ment was  perhaps  too  unrelenting,  but  taking  into 
account  the  treatment  which  he  and  his  kind  had 
received  at  their  hands,  it  was  not  altogether 
inexplicable.  His  power  over  the  labourers  in  the 
early  days  of  the  movement  was  due  to  his  earnest- 
ness and  personal  integrity.  The  Newbury  Weekly 
News  describing  one  of  his  meetings  said : — 

"  Whether  for  good  or  for  evil,  he  has  probably  a  greater 
influence  over  an  outdoor  assembly  of  labourers  than 
any  other  man  in  England.  ...  As  long  as  the  move- 
ment has  such  a  man  for  its  champion,  there  is  little  doubt 
of  its  vitality  or  even  aggressiveness." 

Clayden,  who  accompanied  him  on  his  Canadian 
tour,  says  that  Arch  was  pressed  to  speak  at  Boston, 
and  spoke  for  an  hour  before  a  large  assembly. 
"  Wendell  Phillips  and  General  Butler,  who  had 
come  to  patronise,  were  lost  in  admiration  of  the 
perfect  self-command  and  ease  of  expression  dis- 
played by  the  English  farm-labourer." 

His  free  use  of  Scriptural  texts  and  analogies, 
which  was  the  result  of  his  training  as  a  local 
preacher,  laid  him  open  to  the  charge  of  being  a 
96 


TWO         LEADERS 

"  canting  ranter."  But  such  was  not  the  case. 
When,  at  Newbury,  speaking  in  the  open  air,  he 
said,  "  The  Mayor  has  denied  us  the  Corn  Exchange, 
but  our  Heavenly  Father  has  sent  us  a  beautiful 
nice,  fine  evening,  and  let  us  have  this  spacious 
building,"  he  sincerely  believed  such  to  be  a  fact. 

In  reviewing  his  life-work,  he  writes : — 
/ 

"  I  know  that  it  was  the  hand  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts 
which  led  me  that  day :  that  the  Almighty  Maker  of 
heaven  and  earth  raised  me  up  to  do  this  particular  thing  ; 
that  in  the  counsel  of  His  wisdom  He  singled  me  out, 
and  set  me  on  my  feet  in  His  sight,  and  breathed  of  the 
breath  of  His  Spirit  into  me,  and  sent  me  forth  as  a 
messenger  of  the  Lord  God  of  Battles.  So  I  girded  up 
my  loins  and  went  forth." 

Perhaps  it  was  this  implicit  faith  in  Divine 
guidance  which  made  it  a  little  difficult  for  some 
of  his  colleagues  to  work  with  him.  He  was  an 
orator,  not  an  organizer,  and  was  inclined  to  be 
rather  intolerant  of  ideas  not  fathered  by  himself. 
He  was  not  always  able  to  believe  in  the  disinter- 
estedness of  those  of  his  colleagues  who  did  not 
always  see  eye  to  eye  with  him  in  Union  policy. 

It  is  not  an  easy  matter  to  estimate  the  influence 
Arch  had  upon  the  life  and  outlook  of  the  agri- 
cultural labourer.  He  undertook  a  difficult  task, 
and  in  spite  of  much  opposition  and  misrepresenta- 
tion, succeeded  in  inducing  the  labourers  to  combine 
for  the  purpose  of  improving  their  lot.  Critics 
have  arisen  to  condemn  not  only  his  aims,  but  also 
his  methods.  But  taking  into  consideration  the 
times  in  which  he  worked,  and  the  material  he  had 

0  97 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

to  work  upon,  it  cannot  be  said  that  his  mission 
was  a  failure.  He  did  succeed  in  rousing  the 
labourers  from  their  habitual  indifference  and 
servitude. 

In  1877  Arch  was  invited  by  two  different  Liberal 
Associations,  Southwark  and  Woodstock,  to  stand 
as  Liberal  candidate.  He  refused  both  offers,  as 
he  felt  that  the  time  was  not  ripe,  and  that  he 
could  do  better  work  outside  Parliament.  How- 
ever, when  in  1880  he  was  invited  by  the  Wilton 
Liberal  Society  to  oppose  the  "  independent " 
member,  he  consented  to  stand  and  fight  against 
"  Tory  landlordism,  war,  bad  trade,  starvation, 
and  the  '  cat.'  "  Feeling  ran  high  at  this  period 
over  the  use  of  the  cat-o'-nine-tails  in  the  Army, 
and  in  his  election  campaign  Arch  strongly  con- 
demned its  use.  However,  he  failed  to  get  returned. 

Having  obtained  the  vote,  the  labourers  felt 
they  ought  to  have  a  representative  in  Parlia- 
ment. Arch  was  invited  by  the  working  men  of 
North- West  Norfolk  to  stand  as  their  candidate 
in  the  General  Election  which  took  place  in 
November  1885.  He  stood  in  the  "  Liberal  and 
labouring-class  interest."  In  his  election  address 
Arch  said  he  would 

"  support  the  extension  of  Free  Trade  to  all  articles  of 
food ;  a  measure  for  conferring  local  government  by 
boards  upon  county  districts  ;  the  complete  reform  of 
the  land  laws  ;  compensation  for  improvements  in  the 
soil ;  total  abolition  of  the  law  of  distress  ;  power  to 
government  or  local  boards  to  acquire  land  at  reasonable 
purchase  value,  and  to  re-let  the  same  in  allotments ; 
98 


TWO          LEADERS 

disestablishment  of  the  Church  ;  free,  secular  elementary 
education ;  Sunday  closing  of  public-houses,  except  to 
bona  fide  travellers ;  abolition  of  perpetual  pensions ; 
substitution  of  arbitration  for  war  ;  and  equal  laws  for 
all  parts  of  the  United  Kingdom." 

This  programme  contained  no  direct  reference 
to  the  labourers  or  to  Trade  Unionism.  It  clearly 
indicates  the  changed  attitude  of  the  labourers. 
They  were  looking  forward  to  "  a  complete  reform 
of  the  land  laws  as  the  means  whereby  they  could 
obtain  better  conditions."  This  agitation  of  the 
labourers  for  land  reform  undoubtedly  gave  Mr. 
Joseph  Chamberlain,  M.P.,  his  cue  for  the  Un- 
authorized Programme. 

After  a  very  rough  and  rowdy  campaign,  Arch 
was  returned  by  a  majority  of  640.  His  election 
expenses  were  paid  for  him  by  wealthy  men — 
presumably  Liberals — and  while  in  Parliament  his 
expenses  were  paid  by  the  Union.  In  the  House, 
Arch  wore  similar  clothes  to  those  he  wore  when 
addressing  meetings  of  labourers — a  rough  tweed 
suit  and  a  billycock  hat.  In  the  following  year 
another  election  took  place  at  the  time  of  the  Home 
Rule  split.  This  time  Arch  was  beaten  by  20 
votes. 

After  1885  Arch  never  seemed  to  get  back  into 
his  Union  "  stride."  As  a  Member  of  Parliament 
he  had  to  be  in  London  when  the  House  was  sitting, 
and  this  prevented  him  from  keeping  in  close  touch 
with  the  Union  movement.  When  no  longer  a 
Member  of  the  House,  he  toured  the  constituencies 
to  support  the  Liberal  Party,  addressing  meetings 

99 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

on  the  land  question.  He  had  become  a  "  star 
turn  "  at  such  meetings,  and  was  in  great  demand 
at  the  period  Chamberlain  was  attracting  attention 
by  the  Unauthorized  Programme.  After  the  enact- 
ment of  the  Local  Government  Act  (1888)  Arch 
became  a  member  of  the  Worcestershire  County 
Council. 

At  the  General  Election  of  1892  he  again  con- 
tested North-West  Norfolk  in  opposition  to  the 
late  member,  Lord  Henry  Bentinck.  This  time 
Arch  secured  a  majority  of  over  a  thousand.  The 
labourers  were  dissatisfied  with  the  Tory  Allotments 
Act  of  1887,  and  declared  that  the  Small  Holdings 
Acts  were  of  little,  if  any,  use  to  them.  They 
wanted  not  only  greater  opportunities  of  getting 
land,  but  also  a  larger  voice  in  the  control  of  local 
affairs.  Arch,  outlining  his  policy  at  this  period, 
said : — 

"  After  the  Irish  qiiestion  i3  got  out  of  the  way  we  must 
have  Parish  Councils.  By  conferring  upon  these  councils 
the  control  of  the  charities  and  the  administration  of  the 
Poor  Law  many  of  the  abuses  at  present  existing  will 
be  disposed  of.  These  Councils,  too,  must  take  over 
the  matters  of  rating  and  education  in  the  villages.  Then, 
above  all,  they  must  have  the  power  to  compulsorily 
acquire  as  much  land  for  the  labourer  as  he  wants,  at  the 
same  rent  as  land  is  letting  in  the  district.  The  labourers 
must,  moreover,  have  conceded  to  them  the  right  to  sell 
their  improvements  if  they  choose." 

Arch  sat  as  Member  for  North-West  Norfolk 
until  1900,  when  he  retired  from  public  life.  Several 
of  his  political  friends  subscribed  towards  pro- 
100 


TWO          LEADERS 

viding  a  small  annuity,  sufficient  to  place  him 
beyond  the  reach  of  want  for  the  remainder  of  his 
days.  He  sought  retirement  in  the  little  cottage 
which  had  been  his  home  all  through  his  varied 
career. 

Before  and  after  he  became  a  Member  of  Parlia- 
ment he  gave  evidence  before  several  Royal  Com- 
missions and  Select  Committees.  In  the  House 
he,  on  many  occasions,  championed  the  cause  of  the 
labourer.  His  greatest  work,  however,  was  accom- 
plished before  he  entered  the  House  of  Commons. 
It  must  be  admitted  that  his  membership  of 
the  House  did  not  have  a  beneficial  effect  upon 
his  personal  character.  In  the  very  nature  of  the 
case,  a  man  of  Arch's  class  and  training  would 
require  a  tremendous  reserve  of  moral  strength  to 
enable  him  to  counteract  the  subtle  tendencies 
towards  moral  deterioration,  which  almost  inevit- 
ably accompany  honour  and  success.  In  the 
House  he  was  a  novelty,  a  picturesque  figure  with 
a  romantic  history.  Flattery,  showered  upon  him 
by  people  who  wished  to  use  him  for  their  own 
purposes,  tended  to  spoil  him.  His  very  in- 
genuousness prevented  him  from  avoiding  the 
snare ;  it  laid  him  specially  open  to  this  form  of 
weakness. 

His  humbler  colleagues,  who  slaved  away  un- 
noticed at  the  difficult  task  which  Arch  had  all 
but  relinquished  owing  to  his  "  Parliamentary 
Duties,"  began  to  weary  a  little  of  his  vanity, 
which  led  to  further  disunion.  However,  the 
words  which  were  penned  by  Professor  Thorold 

101 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

Rogers   may   be   quoted   as   the   present   writer's 
opinion  of  Joseph  Arch  : — 

"I  believe  he  has  done  no  little  service  to  his  own  order, 
but  I  conclude  he  has  done  more  for  the  general  interests 
of  labour,  if  only  by  showing  how  universal  is  the  instinct 
that  workmen  can  better  their  condition  only  by  joint 
and  united  action." 

Since  the  days  when  Joseph  Arch  was  an  active 
force  among  farm  labourers,  no  one  has  had  a 
better  claim  than  George  Edwards  to  speak  and 
act  on  their  behalf.  The  mantle  of  Arch  fell  upon 
the  shoulders  of  one  who  had  been  his  co-worker 
during  the  strenuous  battles  of  the  seventies  and 
eighties.  George  Edwards  was  among  those  who 
helped  to  gain  the  franchise  for  the  farm  labourer. 
In  the  fight  for  Parish  and  District  Councils,  Educa- 
tion, Allotments  and  Small  Holdings,  none  were 
more  strenuous  than  he.  For  nearly  fifty  years 
he  has  agitated  for  greater  freedom,  shorter  hours, 
and  higher  wages  for  the  worst  paid  skilled  worker 
in  the  land.  One  of  his  deep-rooted  convictions 
is  that,  if  the  farm  labourer's  position  is  perma- 
nently to  be  improved,  they  must  co-operate,  and 
take  united  action.  In  short,  they  must  copy  the 
farmers — and  join  a  Union. 

George  Edwards  belongs  to  what  is  termed  the 
"  old  school "  of  Trade  Unionists,  and  in  some 
respects  he  has  carried  on  the  Arch  tradition. 
Like  Arch  he  is  a  keen  fighter,  and  yet  tempers  his 
pugnacity  with  a  reasonable  degree  of  moderation. 
His  quality  as  a  fighter  is  only  matched  by  his 
102 


TWO          LEADERS 

ability  as  a  conciliator.  Like  Joseph  Arch,  George 
Edwards  was  a  farm  labourer,  and  the  son  of  a 
farm  labourer.  The  whole  of  his  life  has  been 
spent  among  them.  The  story  of  his  early  life 
is  a  story  of  continual  struggle  against  poverty. 
Bad  as  are  the  conditions  of  the  farm  labourers 
to-day,  they  were  very  much  worse  when  George 
Edwards  was  a  boy. 

He  was  born  in  1850  at  Marsham,  ten  miles  from 
Norwich.  His  father  was  an  ex-soldier  who  had 
returned  to  the  soil.  There  were  seven  children 
to  keep  on  a  wage  of  eight  shillings  a  week.  The 
mother  had  to  work  at  handloom  weaving  in  order 
to  supplement  the  family  income.  Had  she  not 
done  this,  the  family  would  have  starved. 

George  Edwards  never  went  to  school  in  his 
life.  At  the  age  of  six  he  was  sent  to  work,  and 
followed  the  plough  until  he  was  ten  years  of  age. 
At  a  meeting  of  the  Norfolk  County  Council  in 
1915,  when  protesting  against  farmers  taking 
advantage  of  the  national  crisis  to  rob  farm  labourers' 
children  of  the  maximum  amount  of  education 
they  were  entitled  to  under  the  Education  Acts, 
he  recalled  his  early  experiences,  and  said  "  he  owed 
his  smallness  of  stature  to  being  dragged  into  the 
fields  when  a  boy  of  six  years  old ;  to  overwork 
and  bad  living  ;  and  he  was  anxious  that  the  rising 
generation  should  not  be  dragged  into  the  field, 
and  back  into  the  old  system." 

At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  became  a  member  of 
the  Primitive  Methodist  Church,  and  was  made  a 
local  preacher  when  he  was  twenty-two,  although 

103 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

at  that  time  he  could  neither  read  nor  write.  His 
wife,  who  had  managed  to  pick  up  a  little  education, 
taught  him  to  read,  and  helped  him  to  memorize 
the  first  chapter  of  St.  John  and  three  hymns  for 
the  first  service  he  ever  conducted ! 

When  the  Parish  and  District  Councils  were  set 
up,  George  Edwards  was  elected  to  represent  his 
parish  on  the  District  Council.  His  wife  was 
elected  for  the  neighbouring  parish,  and  for  ten 
years  they  worked  side  by  side  on  the  same  Council. 

When  in  1872  The  National  Agricultural  Labourers' 
Union  extended  its  organization  to  Norfolk,  he 
became  an  active  member,  and  helped  to  spread 
the  movement  locally.  When  disunion  arose,  many 
of  the  Norfolk  farm  labourers  seceded  from  the 
National  and  formed  a  new  Union  called  the 
Norfolk  and  Norwich  Amalgamated  Labourers' 
Union.  George  Edwards  was  appointed  General 
Secretary.  This  Union  survived  all  others,  but 
became  defunct  in  1896. 

In  1906,  after  the  General  Election,  there  was  a 
great  deal  of  victimization.  The  farm  labourers 
from  all  parts  appealed  to  George  Edwards  to  make 
another  attempt  to  organize  them  into  a  Union. 
This  Union  was  the  forerunner  of  the  present 
Agricultural  Labourers  and  Rural  Workers'  Union. 

In  April  1912  his  wife,  who  had  been  his  help- 
mate and  companion  for  many  years,  passed  away. 
The  Lancashire  strike,  coming  shortly  after  this 
sad  event,  imposed  a  great  strain  upon  him,  and 
affected  his  health.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  strike, 
when  victory  had  been  secured,  he  resigned  his 


TWO          LEADERS 

position  as  General  Secretary.  On  his  retirement 
he  was  elected  Vice-President  of  the  Union. 

In  1914  he  was  made  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  for 
his  native  county.  He  unsuccessfully  contested 
North-West  Norfolk  in  the  1918  "  Coupon " 
Election. 

Although  no  longer  General  Secretary  of  the 
Union,  he  has  by  no  means  refrained  from  taking 
an  active  part  in  its  counsels.  He  represents  the 
labourers  on  the  Central  Wages  Board,  and  it  is 
to  be  hoped  that  the  farm  labourers  will  be  able 
to  benefit  by  his  assistance  for  many  years  to  come. 


103 


TWENTIETH    CENTURY 


CHAPTER   I 
THE  BETRAYAL 

"  Your  schemes,  politics,  fail,  lines  give  way,  substances 
mock  and  elude  me." 

FROM  the  first  the  farm  worker  had  realized  that 
complete  emancipation  would  not  be  attained  merely 
by  periodic  adjustments  of  wages  and  hours.  He 
instinctively  knew  that  the  land  question  was  at 
the  root  of  most  of  his  troubles.  He  regarded 
access  to  the  land  as  a  sure  means  of  escape  from 
his  low  condition.  What  the  Unions  had  failed 
to  gain  the  vote  would  soon  accomplish.  What 
Parliament  had  taken  away  Parliament  could 
restore.  The  common  lands  had  been  enclosed 
at  a  time  when  the  farm  worker  had  no  say  in  the 
matter ;  by  means  of  the  vote  the  dispossessed 
farm  worker  hoped  to  regain  his  birthright.  Since 
1884  the  farm  worker  has  been  courted  and  cajoled 
by  each  of  the  great  political  parties.  Liberal 
and  Tory  programmes  have  been  full  of  promises, 
from  the  time  of  Mr.  Chamberlain's  Unauthorized 
Programme  down  to  Mr.  Lloyd  George's  Land 
Campaign.  There  have  been  Allotment  Acts,  Small 
Holdings  Acts  and  Housing  Acts,  but  these  have 

109 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

not  really  succeeded  in  effecting  much  improvement 
in  the  lives  of  the  great  mass  of  farm  workers. 

On  the  whole  allotments  have  been  supplied 
in  a  very  grudging,  niggardly  fashion.  In  most 
villages  in  1914  the  number  of  allotments  was 
insufficient  to  meet  the  demand ;  in  some  villages 
there  were  none  available.  The  Land  Enquiry 
Committee  in  1913  estimated  that  about  a  third 
of  the  villages  in  England  and  Wales  were  without 
any  allotments.  This  Committee  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  "  there  is  a  great  unsatisfied  demand 
for  allotments  on  the  part  of  the  labourer,  amounting 
in  some  parts  of  the  country  to  a  veritable  land 
hunger." 

Often,  owing  to  its  distance  from  the  village  and 
the  poor  quality  of  the  soil,  an  allotment  has  been 
a  burden  rather  than  a  boon  to  the  farm  worker. 
Far  from  improving  his  social  outlook,  it  has  often 
meant  only  additional  toil  to  a  man  whose  hours 
of  labour  were  already  too  long,  but  whose  scanty 
wages  compelled  him  to  overwork  himself  in  order 
to  eke  out  a  bare  subsistence. 

The  supply  of  small  holdings  also  is  far  behind 
the  demand.  Some  counties  have  succeeded  in 
satisfying  the  demands  of  a  large  number  of  appli- 
cants, but  in  others  practically  none  have  been 
provided,  especially  in  those  counties  where  wages 
were  low  and  where  the  farm  worker  was  unable 
to  exert  pressure  by  means  of  his  Union.  But, 
even  in  the  best  counties,  it  has  not  been  the  farm 
worker  who  has  succeeded  in  getting  a  small  holding  ; 
it  has  more  often  been  tradesmen,  such  as  the 
no 


THE          BETRAYAL 

village  blacksmith,  carpenter,  or  publican,  who 
have  been  selected.  The  test  as  to  whether  an 
applicant  is  suitable  has  too  often  been,  not  Is  he 
the  most  capable  person,  but  Has  he  sufficient 
capital  ?  There  are  thousands  of  farm  workers 
who  possess  the  necessary  skill,  but  those  with 
sufficient  capital  are  very  few  indeed.  This  fact 
was  acknowledged  by  the  Rt.  Hon.  W.  Runciman 
when  he  was  President  of  the  Board  of  Agriculture. 
"  There  were,"  he  said,  "  very  few  labourers  among 
the  applicants,  because  the  low  wages  paid  to  agri- 
cultural labourers  did  not  enable  them  to  lay  by  even 
the  small  amount  of  capital  required  for  a  small 
holding."  Yet  this  legislation  was  passed,  it  was 
said,  mainly  to  help  farm  workers  to  a  position  of 
greater  independence  !  Moreover,  small  holdings, 
unless  linked  together  by  some  form  of  co-operation, 
are,  generally  speaking,  uneconomical.  Usually 
they  are  higher  rented,  and  consequently  higher 
rated,  than  neighbouring  land  tenanted  by  large 
farmers,  and  unless  the  holding  is  exceedingly 
well  situated  as  regards  markets  and  transport 
facilities,  these  handicaps  are  too  great  to  allow 
the  experiment  to  become  a  success. 

The  Housing  Acts  have  failed  lamentably  to 
grapple  with  the  rural  housing  problem.  Sir  Henry 
Rew,  in  his  report  to  the  Board  of  Agriculture 
on  the  Decline  in  the  Agriculture  Population  1881- 
1906,  says : — 

"  Among  specific  causes  of  discontent  a  deficiency  of 
adequate  or  satisfactory  housing  accommodation  is 
reported  from  about  thirty  counties." 

Ill 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

Under  the  Housing  and  Town  Planning  Act, 
1909,  valuable  work  has  been  done  in  the  way  of 
inspection  and  enquiry,  but  practically  no  cottages 
have  been  built,  although  a  certain  number  "  unfit 
for  human  habitation  "  have  been  repaired. 

The  evidence  as  to  the  shortage  of  decent  cottages 
for  farm  workers  is  overwhelming.  Even  before 
the  war  the  lack  of  good  cottages  was  a  scandal 
which  called  aloud  for  redress.  The  conclusions 
regarding  housing  arrived  at  by  the  Land  Enquiry 
Committee  set  up  by  the  Rt.  Hon.  Lloyd  George 
in  1912  have  been  challenged,  but  never  really 
confuted,  and  subsequent  committees  have  endorsed 
the  findings  of  that  famous  Committee,  which 
were  as  follows  : — 

1.  That  there  is  an  urgent  need  in  every  county  for 
more    labourers'    cottages,    especially    for    cottages    with 
three  bedrooms. 

2.  That  the  condition  of  many  of  the  existing  cottages 
is    most    unsatisfactory,    a    considerable    number    being 
entirely  unfit  for  human  habitation. 

3.  That  there  is  a  great  deal  of  overcrowding,  which 
frequently  makes  it  impossible  to  provide  for  the  proper 
separation  of  the  sexes. 

4.  That    the    unsatisfactory    housing    conditions    are 
largely  responsible  for : 

(a)  A  good  deal  of  the  rural  depopulation,  resulting 

in   a  serious  interference  with  the  supply  of 

labour, 
(i)  A  serious  loss  of  time  among  labourers  who  work 

in  one  village  and  have  to  live  in  another,  or 

in  a  neighbouring  town. 
(c)  A  general  lowering  of  the  standard  of  life  among 

those  who  remain  in  the  villages. 
112 


THE          BETRAYAL 

(d)  A  serious  interference  with  the  independence  of 

the  labourers. 

(e)  Young  couples    desiring   to    marry  being  obliged 

to  leave  the  district  or  to  live  with  their  parents 

or  lodge  with  other  families. 
(/)  The  spread  of  diphtheria,  scarlet  fever,  and  other 

diseases,  and    the    prevalence    of    tuberculosis 

and  rheumatism. 
(g)  A    considerable    amount    of   immorality    due    to 

overcrowding. 

5.  That   large   numbers   of   cottages   unfit   for   human 
habitation  are  not  closed,  owing  to  the  lack  of  alternative 
accommodation.     For  the  same  reason  necessary  repairs 
cannot  be  demanded  by  the  local  authority  or  the  tenant, 
lest  the  landlord  should   close  the  cottage  rather  than 
incur  the  expense  of  repairing  it. 

6.  That  taking  into  account  both  the  existing  scarcity, 
and  also  the  scarcity  that  would  be  created  if  the  Housing 
Acts  were  properly  enforced,  as  far  as  can  be  estimated, 
at  least  120,000  new  cottages  are  required  at  the  present 
time  in  England  and  Wales. 

The  Tied  Cottage  is  one  of  the  rankling  abuses 
of  village  life.  It  undermines  the  worker's  liberty 
and  saps  his  independence.  A  farm  worker  may 
be  perfectly  law-abiding  and  yet  be  turned  adrift 
into  the  road,  merely  because  he  exercise — what 
after  all  should  be  the  elementary  right  of  every 
citizen — the  right  to  vote  for  whom  he  pleases  or 
to  combine  with  his  fellows  for  legitimate  social 
and  economic  purposes.  In  the  matter  of  tied 
cottages,  Parliament  has  done  nothing.  The  whole 
question  is  aggravated  by  the  shortage  of  decent 
alternative  accommodation.  As  things  are,  even 
though  a  labourer  get  another  job  in  the  same 
village,  he  cannot  take  it  because  there  are  no 

H  118 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

other  cottages  available.  The  sting  of  the  tied 
cottage  system  would  be  removed  if  loss  of  job  did 
not  mean  loss  of  home,  if  there  were  alternative 
homes  in  the  same  village.  So  long  as  there  is  a 
dearth  of  cottages  in  rural  parishes,  the  power 
of  the  farmer  and  landowner  to  tyrannize  will 
remain,  and  so  long,  rightly  or  wrongly,  will  the 
farm  worker  feel  his  dependence. 

Since  the  farm  worker  gained  the  vote,  political 
intimidation  has  been  rife  in  the  villages.  In. 
1906  one  political  party  started  a  league  with  the 
object  of  protecting  the  worker  and  exposing  poli- 
tical intimidation.  Until  quite  recently  the  walls 
of  the  villages  and  country  towns  at  election  times 
were  covered  with  placards  announcing  that  the 
Ballot  was  secret !  One  of  the  most  difficult  things 
to  eradicate  from  the  farm  worker's  mind  was  that 
the  squire,  farmer,  and  parson  would  know  which 
way  he  voted.  The  same  with  allotments  and 
small  holdings.  Many  dared  not  apply  for  land 
for  fear  of  incurring  the  displeasure  of  the  farmers 
or  landowners.  To  apply  for  land  in  some  villages 
was  to  become  a  marked  man.  Even  where  the 
fear  was  unfounded,  the  knowledge  of  what  had 
happened  in  other  villages  tended  to  paralyse 
the  farm  worker  and  prevent  him  exercising  his 
legal  rights. 

The  farm  worker  had  good  reason  to  remain 
discontented  with  his  lot.  No  matter  which  phase 
of  his  life  was  considered,  the  same  lack  of  prospect 
confronted  him.  In  his  report  to  the  Board  of 
Agriculture  on  the  Decline  in  the  Agricultural 
114 


THE          BETRAYAL 

Population  of  Great  Britain,  1881-1906,  Sir  Henry 
Rew  wrote : — 

"  Many  correspondents  refer  to  the  absence  of  an  in- 
centive to  remain  on  the  land,  and  of  any  reasonable 
prospect  of  advancement  in  life.  ...  It  is  indeed  impos- 
sible not  to  recognize  that  the  ordinary  career  of  the 
agricultural  labourer  offers  little  scope  for  ambition." 

The  Departmental  Committee  on  the  Employment 
of  Sailors  and  Soldiers  on  the  Land,  reporting  in 
1916,  said : — 

"  One  great  drawback  to  the  life  of  an  agricultural 
labourer  is  that,  no  matter  how  persevering  and  industrious 
he  may  be,  he  has  little  prospect  of  obtaining  a  position 
of  independence." 

The  amount  of  earnings  received  by  the  farm 
worker  was  always  a  matter  for  dispute.  Unlike 
the  majority  of  town  workers,  he  did  not  receive 
all  his  earnings  in  the  form  of  money.  The  "  cash 
wage "  was  usually  supplemented  by  additional 
pay  for  overtime,  piece  work  and  payments  such 
as  harvest  money.  Then  there  were  "  allowances  " 
such  as  a  free  or  an  under-rented  cottage,  a  strip 
of  potato  land,  firing,  milk,  beer  and  cider.  Even 
though  the  cash  wage  was  the  same,  "  allowances  " 
and  extras  varied  from  village  to  village  and  county 
to  county,  but  in  a  given  parish  these  did  not  vary 
much  from  year  to  year.  For  purposes  of  com- 
parison the  cash  wage  is  the  best  standard  to  adopt. 
It  should  be  noted,  however,  that  the  tendency  was 
for  farmers  to  reduce  allowances  and  extra  pay- 

115 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

ments,  especially  where  higher  wages  had  been 
obtained. 

The  Committee  which  reported  on  Wages  and 
Conditions  of  Employment  in  Agriculture  (Cd.  24, 
1919)  estimated  that  in  1914  the  average  cash  wage 
for  ordinary  farm  workers  was  165.  gd.,  an  increase 
of  2s.  a  week  over  the  1907  average.  These  figures, 
however,  only  represent  nominal  wages.  What 
concerns  the  labourer  most  is  not  the  amount  of 
his  cash  wages,  but  how  much  they  will  buy.  This 
is  always  the  test  to  apply  Nominal  wages  are 
the  amount  of  money  received ;  real  wages  repre- 
sent the  purchasing  power  of  that  money. 

In  the  Report  of  the  Committee  appointed  by  the 
Wages  Board  in  1918  (Cd.  76,  1919)  there  is  a 
section  dealing  with  cost  of  living  in  which  a  table1 
is  given  comparing  estimated  cost  of  Average 
Dietary  of  Agricultural  Labourers'  Families  (six 
persons)  in  England,  1902  and  1912.  In  1902  the 
cost  was  133.  5|d. ;  in  1912,  155.  io|d. — an  in- 
crease in  cost  of  food  alone  of  2s.  5^d.  a  week. 
Therefore  the  increased  cost  of  food  would  more 
than  absorb  the  2s.  rise  in  wages  which  occurred 
between  1907.  and  1914. 

Assuming  that  house-rent,  clothing,  and  all  the 
other  things  that  go  to  make  up  the  cost  of  living 
remained  stationary,  and  making  allowance  for 
the  fact  that  many  labourers  do  not  purchase 
all  the  food  consumed  by  their  families,  it  would 
be  difficult  to  prove  that  the  real  wages  of  farm 
workers  were  greater  in  1914  than  1907. 

1  See  Appendix  III. 
116 


THE         BETRAYAL 

Mr.  R.  E.  Prothero  in  1912  wrote  :  "  Speaking 
generally,  labourers  in  1912  are  better  paid,  more 
regularly  employed,  better  housed,  better  fed, 
better  clothed  "  than  in  1884,  the  year  the  vote 
was  obtained.  He  admitted,  however,  that  "  most 
men  of  the  class  are  still  poorly  paid ;  many  are 
precariously  employed  and  poorly  housed ;  j  among 
all,  poverty  is  chronic,  and,  although  destitution 
is  certainly  rare,  the  dread  of  it  is  seldom  absent." 
The  italics  are  ours. 

A  word  of  caution  is  necessary  when  speaking  of 
county  averages,  for  when  one  comes  to  deal  in 
detail  with  particular  parishes  the  wages  are  often 
found  to  be  below  the  average  given  for  the  county. 
Ample  published  evidence  of  this  is  in  existence, 
and  may  be  found  in  detailed  investigations  into 
individual  family  incomes  such  as  are  contained 
in  Miss  Maud  E.  Davies'  Life  in  an  English  Village 
(Unwin,  1909),  How  the  Labourer  Lives,  Rowntree 
and  Kendall  (T.  Nelson  and  Sons,  1913),  and  in 
articles  contributed  by  the  present  writer  to  the 
Westminster  Gazette  (April  28  and  August  2, 1915). 

In  the  Annual  Report  (1912)  of  the  Somersetshire 
Society,  an  organization  which  collects  funds  for 
apprenticing  the  children  of  poor  parents  in  that 
county,  the  following  cases  are  cited  : — 

654.  Father  a  farm  labourer,   earning   123.   per  week. 

Four  children,  two  dependent  on  the  parents. 
675.  Father  a   farm   labourer,  earning  145.  per  week ; 

eight  children,  all  dependent. 
699.  Father  an  agricultural  labourer  earning  ias.  a  week 

and  the  mother  does  occasional  charing,  earning 

43.  per  week.     Seven  children,  all  dependent. 

117 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

707.  Father   a   farm   labourer   earning    I2S.   per   week. 

Three  children,   one  dependent. 

7.  Father  an  agricultural  labourer  earning  ias.  per 
week  and  the  mother  does  occasional  charing, 
earning  45.  per  week.  Seven  children,  all 
dependent. 

The  last  official  Board  of  Trade  figures  (1907)  gave 
145.  as  the  average  cash  wages  of  farm  workers 
in  the  county  of  Somersetshire. 

Between  1871  and  1911  the  total  number  of 
farm  workers  in  England  and  Wales  decreased 
considerably,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  following 
figures  (Cd.  8506,  1917)  : — 

ENGLAND  AND  WALES. 

Year.  Male  Farm  Employees.' 

1871 935>*43 

ign    . .         ..         ..         ..         665,258 

The  causes  of  the  dearth  of  skilled  farm  workers 
were  fairly  obvious.  Low  wages,  bad  houses, 
lack  of  independence,  absence  of  outlook,  and  the 
dull,  wearying  monotony  of  village  life  had  caused 
a  steady  stream  of  workers  to  flow  into  the  towns 
and  cities  and  to  the  colonies.  In  spite  of  thirty 
years  of  citizenship  the  farm  worker's  position  had 
not  improved  sufficiently  to  induce  him  to  stay  in 
the  village.  It  is  not  surprising  that  Sir  Henry 
Rew  wrote  in  1913 : — 

"  At  the  present  time  considerably  more  men  could 
find  employment  on  the  land  than  are  now  available. 
There  certainly  appears  to  be  a  fairly  general  deficiency 
of  skilled  farm  hands." 


1  Including  bailiffs  and  foremen. 
118 


THE          BETRAYAL 

The  shortage  of  skilled  labour  was  a  subject  of 
continual  lament  at  farmers'  meetings  before  the 
war.  The  reason,  in  plain  language,  was  simply 
this :  farmers  generally  were  not  prepared  to  pay 
adequate  wages  for  such  labour.  The  lament  was 
loudest  in  1912-13,  a  time  when,  according  to 
The  Times  (December  30,  1912),  "To  a  man  who 
takes  the  trouble  to  learn  and  attend  to  his  business 
farming  now  offers  every  prospect  of  a  good  return 
upon  his  capital." 

The  curious  phenomenon  in  agricultural  economics 
is  that  wages  do  not,  as  a  rule,  respond  to  the  ordinary 
laws  of  supply  and  demand — at  least  when  there 
is  a  shortage  of  labour.  We  have  seen  how  in 
the  thirties  and  seventies  this  law  operated  very 
thoroughly  ;  there  was  too  many  farm  workers  seek- 
ing work,  consequently  wages  were  driven  to  a  point 
well  below  subsistence  level.  In  1912,  when  the 
demand  for  labour  was  very  strong,  there  were  farm 
workers  in  most  counties  who  were  receiving  less 
than  a  living  wage.  This  phenomenon  is  explained 
by  what  is  known  as  the  "  customary  wage,"  which 
operates  mainly  to  keep  wages  down.  A  farmer 
who  had  been  accustomed  to  pay  a  certain  wage 
would  sometimes  starve  his  land  of  labour  rather 
than  break  with  custom  and  pay  higher  wages. 
Again,  some  farmers  were  afraid  to  create  bad 
feeling  among  their  neighbours.  A  striking  in- 
stance of  this  appeared  in  the  Eastern  Daily  Press 
in  1912.  One  of  the  largest  farmers  in  Norfolk 
decided  to  pay  his  married  farm  workers  the  mag- 
nificent wage  of  173.  a  week,  and  his  single  men 

119 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

155.  to  153.  6d.  a  week,  exclusive  of  extras  for 
harvests.  This  was  announced  in  the  paper  on 
January  8th.  The  next  week  (i3th)  a  man  signing 
himself  "  Tenant  Farmer "  protested  against  this 
violation  of  custom,  and  added  that  the  generous 
farmer  "  might  have  made  it  up  to  his  labourers 
in  some  other  way,  so  that  it  would  not  make  the 
labourers  so  dissatisfied  on  adjoining  estates  and 
farms." 

Thus,  even  the  progressive  farmer  was  hindered 
by  his  less  imaginative  neighbour.  The  axiom 
that  well-paid  labour  is  the  most  economical,  and 
that  a  free,  independent  worker,  properly  housed, 
is  worth  more  to  his  employer  than  an  ill-nourished, 
badly  housed,  servile  worker,  will,  when  it  is  fully 
appreciated  by  farmers  generally,  go  a  long  way 
towards  raising  the  dignity  of  the  Agricultural 
industry. 


120 


CHAPTER  II 
THE   NEW   UNIONS 

"  On  and  on  the  compact  ranks." 

MR.  GEORGE  EDWARDS  and  a  few  political  friends 
of  the  farm  workers  decided  in  1906  to  make  a 
fresh  attempt  to  organize  them  into  a  Union.  In 
July  a  conference  was  held  at  North  Walsham,  in 
Norfolk,  with  this  object  in  view.  Among  those 
present  were  Mr.  Richard  Winfrey  M.P.,  Mr. 
George  Nicholls,  M.P.,  Mr.  H.  A.  Day,  and  repre- 
sentatives of  the  agricultural  labourers  from  the 
Eastern  Counties. 

A  Union  known  as  the  Eastern  Counties  Agricul- 
tural Labourers'  and  Small  Holders'  Union  was 
formed.  Mr.  George  Nicholls,  M.P.,  was  appointed 
president,  Mr.  W.  V.  Harris,  vice-president, 
Mr.  Richard  Winfrey,  M.P.,  treasurer,  and  Mr. 
George  Edwards,  general  secretary. 

The  movement  was  confined  to  the  Eastern 
Counties.  In  less  than  three  months  about  50 
branches  were  formed  with  a  total  membership 
of  1,600.  In  February  1907  a  conference  of  delegates 
from  the  newly  formed  branches  was  convened, 

121 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

and  the  Union  definitely  launched.  By  1910  4,000 
members  had  been  enrolled.  In  May  1910  a 
strike  took  place  among  the  farm  workers  in  the 
parish  of  St.  Faith's,  Norfolk.  Contrary  to  the 
rules  of  the  Union,  the  local  branch  on  its  own 
initiative  decided  to  strike  without  waiting  for 
the  sanction  of  the  Executive.  The  Executive, 
however,  eventually  decided  to  recognize  the 
strike,  and  commenced  paying  strike  benefit.  The 
masters  refused  to  come  to  terms,  and  the  strike 
continued  until  December.  Up  to  that  time  it 
had  cost  the  Union  no  less  than  £1,300.  It  was 
felt  by  the  majority  of  the  Executive  that  the 
strike  should  end.  The  strike  collapsed  in  December, 
the  workers  having  failed  to  obtain  any  concessions 
whatever.  Some  were  reinstated,  but,  as  the 
farmers  had  imported  a  good  deal  of  labour,  many 
of  the  men  remained  on  the  funds.  This  failure 
caused  considerable  defections  from  the  Union. 

At  the  -  conference  in  1911  a  vote  of  censure, 
carried  by  a  large  majority,  was  passed  on  the 
Executive  for  closing  the  strike.  This  vote  led 
to  the  resignation  of  the  president  and  the  treasurer. 
Councillor  Walter  Smith  was  elected  president 
in  the  place  of  Mr.  George  Nicholls,  M.P.,  and 
Mr.  H.  A.  Day,  treasurer,  in  place  of  Mr.  Richard 
Winfrey,  M.P. 

In  response  to  appeals  from  other  counties, 
organizers  were  sent  out  at  the  end  of  1911  with 
the  object  of  forming  branches.  From  this  time 
the  Union  made  steady  progress,  and  by  the  end 
of  1912  the  membership  once  again  reached  4>ooo. 
122 


THE         NEW         UNIONS 

A  fresh  conference  was  held  in  1912  when  the 
rules  and  objects  were  revised  and  the  name  altered 
to  the  National  Agricultural  Labourers'  and  Rural 
Workers'  Union.  The  objects  were  declared  to 
be:— 

"  To  regulate  the  relations  between  employers  and 
employed.  The  means  by  which  such  objects  are  to  be 
obtained  are  as  follows  : — 

(a)  To  improve  the  social  and  moral  conditions  of 
its  members. 

(6)  To  establish  central  funds  for  the  purpose  of 
securing  a  better  distribution  of  the  land,  by  assisting 
to  provide  allotments,  small  holdings,  improved 
housing  accommodation,  and  better  conditions  of 
living. 

(c)  To  secure  proper  legal  advice  when  necessary 
and  to  shield  members  from  injustice. 

(d)  To  relieve  members  out  of  work  through  dis- 
putes, strikes,  or  lock-outs,  when  sanctioned  by  the 
Executive  Committee  or  the  General  Council  of  the 
Union. 

(e)  To  encourage  intercommunication  with  Unions 
in  other  parts  of  this  country  and  other  countries." 

Membership  was  not  confined  to  farm  workers, 
but  as  the  name  of  the  Union  implies,  to  "  Rural 
Workers  "  also. 

"  Those  persons  shall  be  eligible  who  are  Allotment 
and  Small  Holders,  Agricultural  Labourers,  Gardeners, 
Navvies,  Yardmen,  Carters,  Roadmen,  Female  Workers, 
Carpenters,  and  Skilled  Artisans,  who  from  health,  age, 
distance  of  nearest  branch  or  other  sufficient  reasons  are 
unable  to  join  the  recognized  Unions  of  their  respective 
trades,  and  any  other  person  agreed  to  by  a  Branch  and 
not  vetoed  by  the  General  Council  or  the  Executive 
Committee." 

128 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

Women  were  for  the  first  time  admitted  to  member- 
ship. The  Union  became  affiliated  to  the  Trade 
Union  Congress,  and  entitled  to  send  two  represen- 
tatives each  year  to  the  annual  congress. 

In  the  autumn  of  1912  a  great  deal  of  unrest 
existed  among  farm  workers  in  South-West  Lanca- 
shire. The  increased  cost  of  living  and  the  in- 
fectious example  of  nearly  every  other  section  of 
workers  throughout  Lancashire,  induced  the  farm 
worker  to  seek  assistance  from  his  Union. 

Organizers  were  therefore  sent  to  the  affected 
area.  The  Union  made  splendid  headway,  and, 
during  the  latter  part  of  1912  and  the  early  part  of 
1913  it  succeeded  in  forming  nearly  30  branches 
in  the  district  with  a  membership  of  over  2,500 
men.  The  demands  put  forward  were : — 

1.  Saturday  half-holiday,  work  to  cease  at  i.o  p.m. 

2.  Minimum  wage  of  245.  a  week. 

3.  6d.  an  hour  overtime  ;    and 

4.  Recognition  of  the  Union. 

One  farmer,  apparently  without  consulting  his 
neighbours,  immediately  dismissed  all  his  hands, 
eight  in  number,  and  gave  them  notice  to  quit 
their  cottages.  Several  farmers  in  the  Down- 
holland  district  acted  in  the  same  arbitrary  manner. 
These  actions  caused  great  resentment  and  indig- 
nation among  the  labourers.  The  National  Exe- 
cutive endeavoured  in  every  way  possible  to  avoid 
a  strike,  as  the  organization  was  by  no  means 
complete  and  there  were  practically  no  funds, 
but  the  men  were  eager  to  fight  as  soon  as  the 
124 


THE         NEW         UNIONS 

demands  were  formulated.  The  farmers,  however, 
unanimously  decided  not  to  recognize  the  men's 
Union,  but  intimated  that  they  were  not  unwilling 
to  concede,  between  the  busy  seasons,  a  Saturday 
half -holiday.  The  majority  of  the  farmers  did 
not  want  to  come  to  terms  with  the  men.  The 
chairman  of  the  farmers'  meeting  said  that  "  he 
felt  sure  that  if  they  were  only  a  united  force  they 
could  '  squash '  the  Union,  and  take  the  wind  out 
of  the  sails  of  Mr.  Edwards,  the  Secretary  "  (Times, 
May  24,  1913).  All  efforts  to  effect  a  peaceful 
solution  failed ;  therefore,  the  leaders  decided  on 
a  strike.  Between  1,500  and  2,000  farm  workers 
came  out. 

The  strike  commenced  on  June  2oth,  and  lasted 
about  a  fortnight.  At  the  beginning  of  July 
the  Board  of  Trade  intervened,  but  failed  to  bring 
about  a  settlement.  The  strike  excited  wide- 
spread attention,  and  the  Union's  appeal  for  funds 
met  with  a  generous  response  from  the  public 
generally,  and  especially  from  Trade  Unionists 
in  other  industries.  Nearly  £800  were  subscribed 
from  outside  sources. 

The  farm  workers  received  much  valuable  help 
from  Trade  Unionists  in  Liverpool,  who  thought 
the  demands  of  the  Union  were  too  modest.  Among 
Trade  Union  leaders  who  actively  participated  in 
the  movement  were  Messrs.  J.  A.  Seddon  (Chairman 
Parliamentary  Committee  Trade  Union  Congress)  ; 
James  Sexton  (Dockers'  Union) ;  Joseph  Cottar 
(National  Union  of  Ships'  Stewards)  ;  and  many 
others. 

125 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

Not  all  the  farmers  were  obstinate.  Many 
granted  advances  in  wages  and  reduced  hours 
immediately.  The  King  was  about  to  commence 
his  Lancashire  tour,  and  was  to  be  the  guest  of 
Lord  Derby,  upon  whose  estates  the  men  had 
"  downed  tools."  An  attempt  was  made  by  the 
men  to  induce  Lord  Derby  to  bring  about  a  settle- 
ment. Lord  Derby  wrote  to  the  Farmers'  Union 
to  say  that  he  would  place  his  services  at  their 
disposal  if  they  so  wished,  and  he  also  consented 
to  meet  Mr.  James  Sexton  and  Mr.  George  Edwards 
the  Secretary  of  the  Union.  However,  he  did  not 
intervene  in  the  dispute  further  than  to  promise 
to  see  the  men  who  were  working  on  his  own  estates 
and  to  discuss  the  situation  with  them.  As  a 
result  of  Lord  Derby's  terms  the  men  on  his  estate 
withdrew  their  notices  unconditionally,  and  re- 
turned to  work. 

During  the  strike  peaceful  picketing  was  carried 
on  with  considerable  success.  Members  of  the 
Union  met  the  boats  landing  Irish  labourers  at 
Liverpool,  and  in  many  cases  succeeded  in  inducing 
the  immigrants  to  join  the  Union.  Many  Irish 
labourers  who  arrived  in  the  district,  on  finding 
a  strike  in  progress,  passed  on  to  Yorkshire.  On 
July  4th  the  Ormskirk  Branch  of  the  Railwaymen's 
Union  gave  forty-eight  hours'  notice  of  refusal 
to  handle  produce  in  the  affected  area.  Before 
the  railway  workers  could  actually  carry  out  their 
threat,  the  strike  was  ended  by  means  of  a  sugges- 
tion by  the  Superintendent  of  Police  at  Ormskirk. 

The  strike  ended  in  a  very  satisfactory  way 
126 


THE          NEW          UNIONS 

for  the  men,  for,  according  to  the  official  report 
of  the  Union, 

"  This  is  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  agricultural 
labourers  they  have  ever  had  a  reduction  of  hours.  Over- 
time granted  at  sixpence  per  hour.  This  means  during 
busy  seasons  an  increase  of  at  least  45.  per  week,  as  no 
overtime  has  been  paid  for  in  the  past.  Further,  since 
the  agitation  commenced,  a  large  number  of  farmers  have 
granted  increases  in  wages  from  is.  to  33.  per  week." 

During  the  Lancashire  trouble  a  strike  of 
farm  workers  took  place  in  Somerset,  at  East 
Chinnock.  The  trouble  was  mainly  due  to  the 
action  of  one  of  the  farmers  who  sacked  two  Union 
men  and  imported  men  from  another  district 
to  take  their  places.  Great  resentment  was  caused 
by  the  drafting  of  large  numbers  of  police  into 
the  affected  parish.  The  police  were  used  to  protect 
the  farmer  and  the  "  blackleg  "  labour,  and  even 
to  escort  them  to  church.  However,  in  the  end 
the  Union  succeeded  in  coming  to  an  agreement 
with  the  employers,  with  the  result  that  an  advance 
of  2s.  per  week  for  men  and  is.  for  lads  was  secured. 
Other  minor  disputes  took  place  in  other  counties 
and  districts,  and,  more  or  less,  were  settled  on 
advantageous  terms  to  the  men. 

During  1913  the  Agricultural  Labourers'  and 
Rural  Workers'  Union  gamed  nearly  8,000  new 
members.  Lancashire  accounted  for  2,000  of  these, 
and  Norfolk  for  over  1,000.  At  the  end  of  the 
year  there  were  232  branches  scattered  throughout 
26  counties  in  England  and  Wales,  with  a  total 

127 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

membership  of  nearly  12,000.  The  Trade  Union 
Congress  (1913)  voted  £500  to  the  Agricultural 
Labourers'  and  Rural  Workers'  Union  for  organizing 
purposes,  £200  being  advanced  at  the  close  of  the 
year.  Mr.  George  Edwards,  the  general  secretary, 
"  through  ill-health  and  advancing  years  "  resigned 
his  office  after  the  close  of  the  Lancashire  strike. 
Mr.  R.  B.  Walker,  his  assistant,  was  elected  to  fill 
the  vacancy. 

In  February  1914  trouble  arose  between  masters 
and  men  in  the  village  of  Helions  Bumpstead  in 
North  Essex.  A  branch  of  the  Union,  with  41 
members,  had  been  formed  in  the  village  in  October 
1913.  During  the  second  week  of  its  existence 
the  membership  rose  to  59,  and  by  the  end  of 
January  had  reached  82.  At  the  outside  there  were 
not  more  than  130  farm  workers  in  the  parish, 
which  meant  that  the  Union  was  becoming  what 
farmers  are  apt  to  call  "  dangerous."  Four  far- 
mers, after  a  meeting  on  market-day  at  Haverhill, 
decided  to  dismiss  their  men  unless  they  left  the 
Union.  Men  living  in  cottages  belonging  to  these 
farmers  received  notice  to  quit.  The  farmers 
said  if  the  workers  did  not  give  up  the  Union  they 
and  their  families  would  be  evicted.  To  their 
astonishment  the  men  refused  to  submit,  and 
walked  off  the  farms  declaring  that  they  would  not 
go  back  without  a  2s.  rise. 

On  two  occasions  the  men's  representatives  asked 
the  farmers  to  meet  them  in  conference,  but  the 
farmers  refused.  The  trouble  spread  to  neighbouring 
villages,  and  in  June,  as  a  result  of  a  ballot,  all 
128 


THE         NEW         UNIONS 

the  men  voted  in  favour  of  a  strike.  Between 
350  and  400  farm  workers — 95  per  cent,  of  those 
employed  in  the  parishes  of  Ashdon,  Helions 
Bumpstead,  Steeple  Bumpstead,  Stunner,  Ridgewell 
and  Birdbrook  came  out.  Their  chief  demands 
were : 

Labourers,  i6s. 

Stockmen,  iSs.-aos. 

Horsemen,  203. 

Weekly  half-holiday. 

Holiday  on  Bank  holidays,  Christmas  Day,  and  Good 
Friday. 

Overtime,  6d.  per  hour. 

Harvest  work,  £8  for  four  weeks  and  53.  a  day  beyond 
four  weeks. 

Tied  cottages  to  be  held  on  a  three-months'  tenancy. 

The  farmers  were  placed  in  an  awkward  position, 
because  the  hay  was  ready  for  cutting.  Some 
farmers  were  obliged  to  sell  their  sheep  and  cows 
owing  to  the  shortage  of  labour.  It  was  said  that 
rather  than  give  way,  the  farmers  were  prepared 
to  lose  the  harvest.  A  London  daily  described 
their  attitude  in  the  following  lines  : — 

"  Be  danged  to  their  impudent  cheek — 

They  want  sixteen  shillings  a  week  1 

But  rather  than  pay 

I'll  waste  all  my  hay 

And  thus  my  revenge  on  'em  wreak  !  " 

In  March,  the  tenants  of  Lord  Leicester's  Holkham 
estate,  in  Norfolk — a  district  not  directly  affected 
by  the  strike — agreed  to  increase  the  wages  of  the 

I  129 


VILLAGE      TRADE       UNIONS 

farm  workers  by  is.  a  week.  This  example  was 
quickly  followed  on  Sir  Ailwyn  Fellowes'  estate 
at  Honningham.  The  Nottingham  Corporation, 
who  farmed  nearly  2,000  acres  at  Stoke  Bardolph 
and  Bulcote,  decided  to  advance  all  wagoners' 
and  labourers'  wages  by  is.  a  week  from  the  first 
week  in  April,  bringing  the  wages  of  the  former  up 
to  22S.,  and  the  latter  to  195.  6d.  a  week  with  free 
cottages  and  gardens. 

About  the  same  time,  His  Majesty  the  King 
gave  all  his  farm  workers  on  the  Sandringham 
estate  an  increase  of  is.  a  week  and  a  weekly  half- 
holiday.  The  men  on  neighbouring  farms,  and 
particularly  those  employed  by  tenants  of  the 
King,  not  unnaturally,  sought  some  improvement 
in  their  own  conditions  of  employment.  The 
men  came  out  on  strike,  demanding  "  King's  wages 
and  King's  conditions." 

The  strike  was  quite  spontaneous,  and  was  begun 
by  the  independent  action  of  the  workers,  though 
afterwards  they  received  the  support  of  the  Union. 
The  moment  chosen  for  the  strike  was,  apparently, 
not  a  good  one  from  the  farm  worker's  point  of  view. 
Work  on  the  fields  was  well  advanced,  and  the 
Farmers'  Federation  assisted  the  farmers  by  supply- 
ing them  with  a  sufficient  number  of  workers  for 
their  immediate  needs. 

The  men's  Executive  decided  not  only  to  support 
the  men  on  strike,  but  to  issue  a  demand  to  the 
farmers  in  the  North- West  Norfolk  area  for  an 
immediate  advance  of  from  143.  to  i6s.  a  week 
and  a  Saturday  half-holiday.  The  President  stated 
130 


THE         NEW         UNIONS 

that  the  Union  was  not  out  to  "  fight  for  the  sake 
of  fighting."  The  men  did  not  want  to  strike, 
but  only  to  better  conditions.  He  indicated, 
however,  that  the  men  were  bent  upon  getting  the 
matter  considered  at  once,  and  if  the  matter  was 
delayed  "  we  should  have  a  very  great  difficulty 
in  restraining  them." 

During  the  Norfolk  trouble,  the  Union  started 
a  weekly  journal  called  the  Labourer,  partly  to 
record  the  progress  of  the  strike  and  partly  as  a 
national  experiment.  It  was  decided,  after  four 
weekly  issues,  to  continue  it  as  a  quarterly. 

In  April  trouble  arose  on  Lord  Lilford's  estate 
near  Thrapston,  Northamptonshire.  A  Union  had 
been  formed  in  the  district  during  1913  and  60 
farm  workers  on  the  estate  joined.  The  men 
asked  for  a  rise  of  is.  a  week  and  a  weekly  half- 
holiday.  They  were  told  that  unless  they  gave  up 
the  Union  they  must  leave  their  work. 

An  attempt  was  made  by  the  local  branch  secre- 
tary to  settle  the  matter  with  Lord  Lilford  and 
his  agent,  but  the  attempt  was  not  successful. 
Lord  Lilford  said  that  the  question  of  wages — 155. 
a  week — might  be  regarded  as  settled,  but  he  could 
not  give  any  answer  about  the  Saturday  half- 
holiday  which  had  been  demanded.  The  difficulty 
of  the  men  was  increased  by  the  fact  that  practically 
all  of  them  lived  in  cottages  owned  by  Lord  Lilford 
and  therefore  they  were  in  danger  of  being  turned 
out. 

Most  of  the  men  decided  to  remain  at  work, 
but  seven  decided  to  sacrifice  their  jobs  rather 

181 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

than  leave  the  Union.  These  seven  men  were 
dismissed,  and  failed  to  get  fresh  employment 
anywhere  upon  the  Lilford  estate. 

The  action  of  Lord  Lilford  and  his  tenants  was 
condemned  in  the  public  press  and  also  by  farmers 
at  the  meeting  of  the  Farmers'  Union. 

The  Times,  April  21,  1914,  said : — 

"  To  turn  good  men  oft  their  land  merely  because  they 
choose  to  belong  to  a  Union,  as  we  understand  that  he 
(Lord  Lilford)  has  done,  is  to  adopt  an  antiquated  attitude 
wholly  out  of  touch  with  the  current  of  thought  and 
feeling  to-day.  He  is  trying  to  swim  against  the  stream, 
which  is  an  exceedingly  foolish  proceeding.  The  men 
have  just  as  much  right  to  belong  to  the  Union  if  they 
choose  as  he  has  to  belong  to  the  Carlton  Club." 

The  Mark  Lane  Express  (June  29,  1914),  the 
official  organ  of  the  National  Farmers'  Union, 
contained  the  following  : — 

"  We  utterly  fail  to  understand  the  attitude  of  the 
farmers  in  these  localities.  We  have  heard  a  good  deal 
lately,  of  the  blessed  word  '  recognition.'  Whatever  it 
may  really  mean,  might  we  point  out  that  one  weak, 
ineffective  way  of  recognizing  the  labourers'  effort  to 
combine  is  to  a'ttempt  to  kill  it  by  coercive  measures  ?  " 

The  dispute  spread  to  many  of  the  neighbouring 
villages.  Eventually  the  farmers  at  Raunds  came 
to  terms  with  the  men;  other  villages  followed 
their  example.  The  terms  agreed  to  at  Raunds 
were  the  following  : — 

i .  One  shilling  per  week  increase  in  wages  for  men  ; 
6d.  per  week  for  boys. 
132 


THE         NEW         UNIONS 

2.  Sixpence  per  hour  overtime  for  men  earning  more  than 
163.  per  week ;    boys  under  16,  ad.  per  hour  overtime  ; 
boys  over  16,  3d.  per  hour ;   no  beer. 

3.  Four  o'clock  stop  on  Saturdays. 

4.  Reinstatement  of  all  men. 

5.  Withdrawal  of  all  notices  to  quit  cottages,  and  all 
legal  action,  if  any,  arising  out  of  the  dispute. 

6.  Hours  of  harvest  work  as  usual.  ; ?.'-•. .  *•'*. 

7.  All  men  to  work  together  amicably.  :>l'.v, 

A  general  settlement  was  effected  in  July.  It 
is  worth  recording  that  the  Union  came  .to  be 
"  recognized  "  even  on  the  Lilford  estate,  but  an 
exception  was  made  on  the  home  farm.  The  seven 
men  who  were  dismissed  because  they  would  not 
give  up  the  Union  were  not  reinstated,  but  found 
employment  in  the  district.  This  fight  was  a 
notable  victory  for  the  men. 

In  June  1914,  the  activities  of  the  Union  extended 
over  26  counties  in  England  and  Wales.  There 
were  360  branches,  with  a  total  membership  of 
15,000.  The  Manchester  Guardian  (June  22nd) 
stated  that  owing  to  the  trouble  in  Norfolk,  Essex, 
and  Northamptonshire,  the  membership  was  in- 
creasing by  not  less  than  600  a  week. 

Early  in  1914  the  branches  of  the  Union  in  the 
North- West  Essex  district  formed  themselves  into 
a  Federation  called  the  North-West  Essex  Federation. 
This  body  was  responsible  for  projecting  the  strike 
in  that  area,  although,  after  the  strike  had.  been 
declared,  the  National  Executive  consented  to 
share  the  responsibility.  About  the  same  time 
a  movement  was  set  on  foot  among  the  branches 
in  Lancashire  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  separate 

188 


organization.  It  was  felt  that  organization  and 
cohesion  were  difficult  so  long  as  activities  were 
directed  from  a  distant  centre.  The  new  organiza- 
tion was  known  as  the  Dairy  Workers  and  Rural 
Workers'  Union.  This  difficulty  was  felt  in  other 
areas.  In  Worcestershire  a  county  committee 
was  formed,  consisting  of  representatives  from  the 
branches,  for  the  purpose  of  assisting  in  the  organiza- 
tion and  control  of  the  branches  within  its  area. 

There  was  at  this  tune  only  one  other  really 
important  Union  engaged  in  organizing  farm 
workers — the  Workers'  Union.  This  Union  was 
formed  originally  for  the  purpose  of  organizing 
the  unskilled  workmen  in  towns  and  urban  districts. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  this  Union  in  1899-90 
succeeded  in  organizing  farm  workers  in  several 
counties,  and  that  this  branch  of  the  work  suffered 
from  the  slump  in  Trade  Unionism  which  occurred 
in  the  early  nineties. 

It  was  in  1910  that  the  Workers'  Union  made  a 
fresh  start  in  the  rural  districts.  The  Union  com- 
menced operations  in  Staffordshire,  Shropshire, 
Cheshire,  and  Suffolk.  The  new  effort  met  with 
immediate  success,  and  in  1911  the  organization 
spread  into  other  counties.  Some  idea  of  the  vigour 
of  this  Union  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that 
between  December  1912  and  March  1914  nearly 
90,000  men,  including  agricultural  labourers,  were 
added  to  its  membership. 

The  Union  had  headquarters  in  London.  Coun- 
cillor John  Beard,  of  Birmingham,  was  President, 
Mr.  Tom  Mann  Vice-President,  and  Mr.  Chas. 
184 


THE         NEW         UNIONS 

Duncan,  M.P.,  General  Secretary.  The  "  Farm 
workers  section "  was  entrusted  to  Mr.  George 
Dallas,  one  of  the  most  capable  of  modern  Trade 
Union  officials. 

During  1914  a  vigorous  campaign  was  organized 
in  the  Home  Counties.  For  the  agricultural 
section  of  the  work  the  Union  possessed  a  van  which 
served  the  purpose  of  a  lodging  for  the  itinerant 
organizers  and  a  convenient  platform  for  the 
purpose  of  propaganda.  The  Union,  although  or- 
ganized from  London,  worked  on  a  county  basis. 
The  branches  within  a  county  sent  delegates  to 
a  conference  held  at  a  convenient  time  and 
place,  usually  the  county  town.  This  conference 
framed  the  demands  of  the  Union,  taking  into 
consideration  the  special  conditions  prevailing  in 
the  county.  The  schedule  agreed  upon  by  the 
conference  became  the  farm  workers'  charter  for 
the  county,  and  was  used  as  a  basis  for  negotiations 
with  the  farmer. 

Each  county  schedule  differed  in  some  respects, 
according  to  the  peculiar  customs  of  the  county. 
The  Union  recognized  that  a  uniform  demand  would 
defeat  its  own  ends.  In  some  cases  where  the 
agricultural  conditions  were  similar  in  adjoining 
counties,  one  schedule  served  for  the  whole  area ; 
for  instance,  at  a  conference  of  delegates  held  at 
Cirencester,  February  28, 1914,  a  schedule  of  wages 
and  conditions  was  drawn  up  for  Oxfordshire, 
Gloucestershire,  and  Wiltshire. 

The  minimum  demanded  for  ordinary  farm  workers 
in  these  three  counties  was  fixed  at  i8s.  per  week  for 

135 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

a  week  of  54  hours  in  the  summer,  and  50  in  the 
winter,  with  a  half-holiday  for  Saturday  and  six- 
pence an  hour  overtime.  Different  wages  and  hours 
were  fixed  for  wagoners,  cowmen,  and  shepherds. 
Arrangements  were  made  for  piece-work,  hay  and 
corn  harvests,  threshing  days,  road  allowances 
for  wagoners,  boy  labour,  perquisites,  and  the 
tenure  of  cottages.  The  Union  stipulated  that  the 
perquisites  for  all  classes  of  workmen  were  to 
remain  as  usual,  and  "  all  workmen  living  in  cottages 
to  receive  six  months'  notice  to  quit  where  tenancy 
may  be  terminated  by  mutual  consent." 

This  method  of  working  on  a  county  basis 
not  only  gave  a  certain  amount  of  local  autonomy, 
but  also  tended  to  differentiate  between  the  de- 
mands of  different  counties. 

At  the  commencement  of  1914  there  were  600 
branches  of  the  Union  with  a  membership  of  nearly 
100,000  including  farm  workers,  and  during  the 
first  half  of  1914  the  membership  increased  by 
leaps  and  bounds.  The  funds  at  the  disposal  of 
the  Union  and  the  average  weekly  income  at  that 
time  greatly  exceeded  that  of  any  other  Union 
working  among  agricultural  workers.  Conse- 
quently it  was  held  to  be  in  a  position  of  great 
strength,  because,  in  case  of  a  strike  or  lock-out 
among  farm  workers,  all  the  Union  members  would 
not  be  affected,  and  the  weekly  contributions  would 
pour  in  from  workers  in  the  towns  and  urban 
districts.  The  Union  claimed  that  the  combina- 
tion of  the  unskilled  workers  in  towns,  and  the 
farm  workers,  tended  to  check  the  use  of  farm 
186 


THE         NEW         UNIONS 

workers  during   industrial  disputes  and  the   use 
of  unskilled  labour  in  agricultural  disputes. 

This  method  of  calling  conferences  in  each  area 
for  the  discussion  of  wages  and  conditions  generally, 
usually  led  to  a  reasonable  and  practicable  pro- 
gramme. It  is  interesting  to  note  that  this  method 
in  many  respects  very  closely  anticipated  the  Wages 
Boards  which  were  set  up  by  the  Government  in 
1917.  A  circular  convening  a  conference  in  Here- 
fordshire in  1914  contained  the  following  excellent 
advice : — 

"  In  drawing  up  a  programme  it  will  be  well  to  bear 
in  mind  that  it  must  be  reasonable,  so  as,  first,  to  lead 
the  employers  to  discuss  it ;  and  in  the  second  place, 
so  as  to  convince  the  general  public  that  it  ought  to  be 
conceded  at  once  ;  and  further,  that  it  should  be  of  such 
a  nature  as  to  secure  the  greatest  enthusiasm  and  unity 
amongst  the  workers  themselves." 

In  Yorkshire,  where  one  of  the  demands  had 
been  an  all-round  wage  of  245.  a  week,  after  the 
programme  had  been  in  operation  for  a  year,  it 
was  decided  at  a  conference  in  1914  to  modify 
the  demand  to  one  of  22s.  a  week,  "  and  thereby 
avoid  any  friction  with  the  farmers,  who  think 
243.  excessive."  The  conference  was  confident 
that  this  increase  would  shortly  be  conceded. 

These  methods  were  conciliatory  in  character, 
and  were  meeting  with  the  success  they  deserved. 
The  Union  continued  to  make  rapid  progress, 
and  when  the  war  came  in  August  1914,  it  could 
boast  of  the  solid  support  of  thousands  of  farm 
workers,  and  a  record  of  sterling  work  on  behalf 

187 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

of  the  worker,  who,  to  use  the  words  of  the  author 
of  a  Pilgrimage  of  British  Farming  was  "  much 
worse  paid  than  his  fellows  in  any  other  industry." 

In  1914  a  Union  known  as  the  National  Amal- 
gamated Union  of  Labourers  commenced  operations 
in  Kent,  and  in  June  a  strike  was  proclaimed. 
The  war  diverted  attention  from  agricultural 
distress.  A  truce  was  declared,  and  the  men  in 
all  areas  returned  to  work  without  pressing  their 
claims  to  higher  wages. 

What  The  Times  said  in  1914  (March  6th)  was 
true  in  August : — 

"As  a  class,  however,  the  agricultural  labourers  of 
the  country  are  an  unorganized  body,  incapable  of  con- 
certed action  in  a  national  strike  movement,  for  compara- 
tively few  of  them  are  enrolled  on  the  books  of  a  Trade 
Union." 


138 


CHAPTER   III 
THE    TRUCE 

"  Liberty,  let  others  despair  of  you — I  never  despair  of 
you." 

THE  war  overshadowed  all  domestic  problems, 
but  even  before  the  Mons  Retreat  farmers'  grumbles 
were  heard  on  the  "  home  front."  Enlistment,  and 
attractions  of  better  pay  in  alternative  employment 
tended  to  accentuate  the  shortage  of  skilled  labour 
on  farms.  What  did  the  farmer  do  ?  Did  he 
raise  wages  ?  No ;  he  commenced  to  clamour  for 
the  workers'  children  to  be  released  from  school. 
The  Government  of  the  day  allowed  the  children 
to  be  taken,  and  this  concession  had  the  effect 
of  encouraging  farmers  to  hope  that  its  legaliza- 
tion in  the  spring  would  tide  them  over  their  diffi- 
culties and  enable  them  to  avoid  paying  higher 
wages  to  those  men  who  remained. 

Early  in  1915  Farmers'  Unions  commenced  an 
active  campaign  for  the  premature  release  of 
children  of  school  age.  Farm  workers  were  leaving 
the  farms  to  take  up  industrial  pursuits.  They 
would  have  been  retained  if  farmers  had  offered 

180 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

higher  wages.  The  remedy  in  the  farmers'  mind 
was  not  higher  wages,  but  more  children.  Accord- 
ing to  the  Board  of  Education  the  wages  paid  to 
children  varied  "  below  a  maximum  of  75.  a  week." 
The  President  of  the  Board  of  Education,  in  reply 
to  a  deputation,  said  (February  n,  1915)  "  it  was 
rather  a  curious  fact  that  where  wages  had  been 
highest  there  had  been  shown  no  tendency  on 
the  part  of  farmers  to  demand  the  help  of 
children,  but  where  cheap  labour  was  required  the 
children  were  withdrawn."  Mr.  R.  E.  Prothero, 
M.P.,  speaking  in  the  House  of  Commons  (February 
25,  1915)  said  :  "  Whatever  the  farmer  thought 
twenty  years  ago,  he  is  now  in  favour  of  education." 
Had  he  looked  up  the  reports  of  farmers'  meetings 
he  would  not  have  made  such  a  statement.  At 
the  annual  meeting  of  the  Devon  Farmers  Union 
one  member  thought  that  "  a  cause  of  the  shortage 
of  farm  labour  was  that  children  were  educated 
above  their  position  "  (Mark  Lane  Express,  February 


A  farmer,  speaking  at  the  annual  meeting  of 
the  North  Berkshire  Branch  of  the  National  Farmers' 
Union,  said  "  this  was  not  the  time  to  talk  about 
keeping  boys  at  school  and  over-educating  them  — 
that  had  been  done  too  long  —  but  it  was  the  time 
for  agriculturists  to  press  their  demands  "  (Mark 
Lane  Express,  February  8th). 

A  well-known  Westerdale  farmer,  speaking  at 
the  annual  dinner  of  the  Castleton  Farmers'  Pro- 
lection  Association,  said  "  Boys  were  being  over- 
educated  "  and  "  to  prohibit  the  employment 
140 


THE          TRUCE- 

of  scholars  on  the  land  was  taking  away  from 
farmers  the  supply  of  labour  at  its  source  "  (York- 
shire Herald,  March  8th). 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Darlington,  Durham,  and 
North  Riding  Chamber  of  Agriculture,  February 
5,  1915,  one  farmer  said  "  the  longer  they  [the 
children]  went  to  school  the  less  inclined  they  would 
be  to  work."  The  Chairman  was  reported  to 
have  said  :  "If  they  keep  the  boys  or  girls  at 
school  till  the  age  of  fourteen,  nine  out  of  ten 
would  say  they  would  not  go  to  manual  work ; 
they  would  say  they  were  educated  and  wanted  to 
earn  a  living  with  their  brains  and  not  with  their 
hands  "  (Yorkshire  Daily  Post,  February  16,  1915). 

There  were  many  farm  workers  who  welcomed 
the  opportunity  of  adding  to  the  family  income 
by  means  of  the  early  employment  of  their  children. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  those  who  objected  were 
not  always  able  to  keep  their  children  at  school. 
The  tied  cottage  system,  in  some  instances,  made 
resistance  impossible.  A  witness  at  the  Caversham 
Petty  Sessions  said  that  her  boy  had  been  employed 
by  "  order  "  of  the  squire. 

There  were  a  few  enlightened  farmers  who  did 
not  share  the  prevalent  views  on  child  education. 
For  instance,  at  a  meeting  of  the  Liverpool  and 
District  Farmers'  Club  a  farmer  said  "  It  was  very 
necessary  that  boys  should  be  properly  educated ; 
.for  an  educated  labourer  was  of  better  value  than 
an  uneducated  one."  It  will  be  noted  that  this 
opinion  came  from  a  district  where  farm  workers 
received  a  relatively  high  wage. 

141 


VILLAGE      TRADE       UNIONS 

Did  farmers  seriously  try  to  get  adult  labour  ? 
The  Board  of  Agriculture  made  arrangements 
with  Labour  Exchanges  in  order  to  assist  the 
farmers  in  obtaining  labour  from  the  towns. 
But  a  great  many  farmers  would  not  use  the  Ex- 
changes. They  complained  that  they  could  not 
get  skilled  labour  by  these  means  ;  yet  they 
did  not  mind  taking  cheap,  unskilled  child 
labour  ! 

The  Secretary  of  the  North  Herefordshire  Farmers' 
Union  said  "  The  Chairman  of  the  Bromyard  Branch 
recently  had  a  conversation  with  the  manager  of 
the  Worcester  Exchange,  who  told  him  that  he 
had  plenty  of  English  labourers  who  were  willing 
to  work  in  the  country,  but  not  at  the  present 
rate  of  wages"  (Hereford  Times,  February  27, 


Even  the  Morning  Post,  while  condoning  the 
use  of  child  labour,  said  :  "  The  farmer  has  come  to 
depend  too  much  on  cheap  and  casual  labour, 
casual  because  it  is  cheap  and  cheap  because  it 
is  casual  "  (March  6,  1915). 

Among  those  who  took  up  the  cause  of  the  children 
was  the  Workers'  National  Committee,  which  body, 
after  investigation,  arrived  at  the  following  con- 
clusions :  — 

"  We  are  of  opinion  that  until  substantial  advances 
in  wages  have  been  offered  no  proposal  to  substitute 
either  child  or  female  labour  should  be  considered. 

"  We  therefore    support    the    Agricultural   Labourers' 
Union  in  their  demand  for  better  wages  before  any  other 
source  of  supply  is  considered." 
142 


THE         TRUCE 

The  Bishop  of  Oxford,  in  a  letter  published  in 
The  Times  of  March  5th,  wrote : — 

"  To  meet  the  shortage  by  withdrawing  boys  pre- 
maturely from  school  on  a  large  scale  is  a  disastrously 
reactionary  measure,  which  it  will  be  hard  to  reverse." 

Canon  Scott  Holland  contributed  a  vigorous 
article  in  The  Commonwealth. 

"  There  is  no  class,"  he  wrote,  "  more  terribly  in  danger 
of  missing  its  heritage  than  the  agricultural  labourers' 
boys.  There  is  no  class  more  ready  to  skimp  their  hold 
upon  it  than  the  farmers.  There  are  half  a  dozen  ways 
out  of  the  difficulties  in  which  the  agricultural  labourer 
is  placed.  A  decent  wage  would  bring  men  in  out  of 
the  trades  that  are  suffering  by  the  war." 

A  correspondent  to  Country  Life  summed  up  the 
farmers'  attitude  when  he  sneered  about  "  putting 
a  relatively  fine  edge  on  very  ordinary  iron."  Farm 
workers'  children  were  regarded  as  "  very  ordinary 
iron."  A  Shropshire  branch  of  the  Union  wrote  : — 

"  We  poor  labourers  have  as  much  respect  for  our 
children  as  the  farmer,  of  whose  sons  there  are  some  going 
to  school  in  Shropshire  at  14,  15,  16,  17,  and  not  called 
on  to  do  the  least  little  job  because  they  are  farmers' 
sons,  and  yet  they  are  asking  for  ours  without  the  parents' 
consent." 

"  The  fine  edge  "  was  quite  the  correct  thing  for 
farmers'  children :  they  were  something  better 
than  "  ordinary  iron."  Farmers'  objection  to  the 
"  fine  edge  "  on  the  "  ordinary  iron  "  is  that  it 
would  be  difficult  to  temper  it  in  order  to  stand  the 

148 


VILLAGE   TRADE   UNIONS 

blunting  process  so  necessary  for  producing  what 
they  conceive  as  the  right  kind  of  farm  worker. 

However,  the  farmers  had  their  way.  The 
Government  of  the  day  responded  to  the  meanest 
agitation  of  modern  times  by  legalizing  the  release 
of  school-children  between  the  age  of  12  and  14 
years.  The  French  Government,  on  the  other 
hand,  issued  to  the  local  educational  authorities 
in  that  country  a  circular  containing  the  following 
passage  :  — 

"  The  existing  laws  on  the  attendance  of  boys  at  school 
must  be  maintained  this  year  with  more  strictness  than 
ever.  ...  It  would  be  disgraceful  to  see  children  robbed 
of  their  education  as  if  the  military  service  of  their  fathers 
had  left  them  only  the  choice  between  beggary  and  pre- 
mature wage-labour." 

As  to  wages,  in  cases  which  the  present  writer 
investigated  in  April  1915,  he  found  instances  in 
Cambridgeshire,  Wiltshire,  and  Worcestershire  where 
the  increase  in  total  earnings  since  August  1914 
was  only  a  shilling  a  week  !  Instances  from  ten 
counties  revealed  the  fact  that  the  highest  war 
increase  had  been  2s.  a  week.  Yet  cost  of  living 
had  already  risen  by  20  per  cent.,  which  would 
require  a  rise  of  33.  on  a  153.  wage  to  enable  the 
labourer  to  live  on  a  pre-war  scale. 

"  At  Thetford  County  Court  the  judge  said  that  in 
some  cases  in  Norwich  that  came  before  him  the  agri- 
cultural labourers  only  received  threepence  per  hour. 
That  did  not  seem  to  be  a  wage  upon  which  a  man  could 
very  well  keep  a  family  "  (Richmond  Herald,  February  27, 


144 


THE          TRUCE 

There  was  a  great  deal  of  unrest  among  farm 
workers  at  this  time,  and  rumours  of  strikes  came 
from  Norfolk,  Herefordshire,  and  Yorkshire.  In 
Norfolk  a  serious  strike  was  threatened.  A 
thousand  members  of  the  National  Agricultural 
Labourers  and  Rural  Workers'  Union  gave  notice 
that  they  would  cease  work  on  March  I3th 
unless  the  Farmers'  Federation  consented  to  meet 
the  Union  representatives,  and  to  grant  a 
considerable  increase  in  wages.  The  Farmers' 
Federation  met  all  the  overtures  of  the  Union  with 
a  stubborn  determination  to  concede  nothing, 
although  many  farmers  admitted  that,  owing  to 
the  increased  price  of  food,  the  workers'  claims 
were  not  unreasonable. 

Towards  the  end  of  February  things  looked 
about  as  black  as  they  could  be.  The  General 
Secretary  of  the  Union  stated  on  February  25th : 
"  At  the  moment  I  can  see  nothing  but  open  rupture 
staring  us  in  the  face."  It  was  generally  agreed 
that  a  rupture  would  have  been  a  calamity  at  such 
a  juncture  of  the  national  history,  because  the 
cessation  of  farm  work  would  have  hindered  the 
production  of  food  over  a  considerable  area  of 
cultivation.  At  the  eleventh  hour  a  settlement 
was  arranged,  and  a  compromise  effected.  Five 
of  the  largest  farmers  in  Norfolk  agreed  to  meet 
five  representatives  of  the  Union,  in  order,  if 
possible,  to  arrive  at  an  amicable  agreement. 
The  result  was  a  friendly  settlement,  and  the 
strike  was  averted. 

The  farmers  at  the  conference  pledged  the  Union 
K  145 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

representatives  to  raise  the  farm  workers'  wages 
to  i8s.  a  week.  This  represented  an  advance  of 
35.  a  week  on  pre-war  wages.  The  other  farmers 
of  Norfolk  were  asked  to  fall  into  line  with  the 
decision  of  the  conference.  With  a  few  exceptions, 
most  of  the  farmers  remained  loyal  to  this  arrange- 
ment. Thus  the  farm  workers  won  a  "  bloodless 
victory." 

But  some  of  the  farmers  in  the  Swanton  Morley 
district  failed  to  abide  by  the  decision,  and  it  was 
not  until  fifty  or  sixty  men  had  been  on  strike 
for  nearly  a  fortnight  that  they  agreed  to  pay 
the  i8s. 

In  reviewing  this  period  it  appears  almost  in- 
credible that  English  farmers,  who  were  supposed 
to  be  an  intensely  patriotic  class  of  men,  should 
have  resisted  the  farm  workers'  claim  for  better 
treatment  at  a  time  when  the  national  interest 
required  that  unity  should  prevail  among  all  classes 
at  home.  No  reasonable  person  would  maintain 
that  the  farm  workers'  demands  were  excessive, 
especially  when  it  is  remembered  that  farmers 
were  doing  exceedingly  well.  They  were  getting 
higher  prices  for  their  produce ;  for  instance, 
as  early  as  February  1915  the  average  price  of 
British  wheat  was  6os.  a  quarter,  or  nearly  double 
the  average  price  obtained  in  February  1914 ; 
the  price  of  oats  had  risen  during  the  same  period 
by  over  50  per  cent,  and  barley  by  nearly  25  per 
cent.  Cost  of  living  had  risen  by  20  cent.,  yet 
the  farmers  were  unwilling  to  advance  wages, 
and  the  farm  workers  had  to  resort  to  a  strike 
146 


THE          TRUCE 

before  the  farmers  would  concede  a  rise  of  3$. 
a  week  on  a  wage  of  153. 

As  time  went  on,  farmers'  difficulties  with  regard 
to  the  supply  of  skilled  labour,  instead  of  getting 
better,  grew  worse.  The  farmer's  predicament 
only  emphasized  his  dependence  upon  the  skilled 
farm  worker.  The  nation,  too,  began  to  realize 
that  Agriculture  was  the  backbone  of  national 
well-being,  and  that  the  industry  itself  depended 
almost  entirely  upon  the  skilled  labour  of  the 
unobtrusive,  long-suffering,  sweated  farm  worker. 

The  authorities,  who  at  first  had  shown  little 
discrimination  in  calling  up  the  men  under  the 
Derby  scheme,  eventually  decided  to  "  star " 
certain  special  classes  of  workers.  "  Starred " 
men  were  not  to  be  called  up  unless  the  re- 
cruiting officer  could  prove  that  such  men  had 
been  improperly  or  unnecessarily  "  starred." 

But  farm  workers  continued  to  migrate  to 
better  paid  employment.  For  instance,  they 
were  taken  on  at  Gretna  for  excavation  work. 
The  inference  was  that  the  "  unskilled  navvy 
labour "  was  being  paid  higher  wages  than  the 
indispensable  farm  worker.  The  obvious  thing 
to  do  was  to  offer  farm  workers  inducements 
to  stay  on  the  farms.  But  this  did  not  present 
itself  to  the  Cumberland  farmers  as  the  right 
way  out  of  the  difficulty.  They  preferred 
to  send  resolutions  to  Whitehall  imploring  the 
Government  to  prevent  farm  workers  from  leaving 
the  farms. 

Lord  Selborne,  the  Minister  of  Agriculture, 

147 


replied  that  "  if  a  skilled  farm  hand,  who  is  on  the 
starred  list  leaves  his  employment  on  a  farm  in 
order  to  work  at  another  trade,  the  arrangement 
by  which  he  is  exempted  from  being  recruited  for 
the  army  will  no  longer  apply." 

This  decision  was  perfectly  sound  from  the 
point  of  view  of  national  interest,  but  it  was  grossly 
unfair  not  to  stipulate  that  farmers  should  pay 
higher  wages  to  men  who  were  stated  to  be  indis- 
pensable to  the  nation.  It  placed  farmers  in  a 
privileged  position  as  compared  with  other  em- 
ployers of  labour ;  it  prevented  the  worker  from 
getting  a  market  value  for  the  only  commodity 
he  had  to  sell,  namely,  his  labour.  The  farmer 
was  allowed  to  get  full  market  value  for  all  his 
commodities ;  but  that,  of  course,  was  only  proper : 
to  have  interfered  with  the  farmers'  market  would 
have  violated  the  sacred  law  of  supply  and  demand. 

However,  the  "  starring  "  of  the  workers  did  not 
improve  matters  very  much.  Recourse  was  had 
to  the  employment  of  soldiers  on  the  land.  There 
was  a  good  deal  of  hesitancy  at  first  on  the  part 
of  farmers  to  employ  soldiers.  Certainly,  unless 
special  care  was  exercised  in  the  selection  of  the 
men  detailed  off  to  work  on  the  land,  soldier  labour, 
as  such,  was  not  likely  to  be  "  skilled  "  labour. 
Any  given  platoon  would  contain  clerks,  piano- 
tuners,  dockers,  watchmakers,  etc.,  but  very  few 
who  had  worked  on  the  land  at  any  time,  and  fewer 
still  who  had  acquired  a  degree  of  skill  in  what 
after  all  is  a  very  skilled  employment.  But 
by  the  use  of  soldier  labour  a  new  principle  was 
148 


THE          TRUCE 

introduced  into  agriculture,  namely,  definite  wages 
and  hours.  The  farmer  resented  this  very  much ; 
but  the  authorities  very  rightly  insisted  on  a  de- 
finite wage  being  paid  for  a  fixed  number  of  hours. 
In  many  districts  this  wage  was  higher  than  that 
paid  to  the  skilled  farm  workers,  and  the  hours  of 
labour  shorter.  This  was  awkward  for  the  farmers, 
who  perhaps  would  not  have  raised  such  an  outcry 
against  soldier  labour  had  it  been  as  cheap  as 
ordinary  farm  labour. 

After  mishandling  the  problem  for  a  long  time, 
the  military  authorities  showed  greater  discern- 
ment in  the  selection  of  soldiers  sent  to  work 
on  the  land.  On  the  whole,  during  the  latter  part 
of  1917,  soldier  labour  improved  greatly  in  quality. 
Farmers  were  able  to  "  carry  on,"  and  greatly  to 
increase  the  area  of  cultivation,  by  means  of  soldiers, 
prisoners  of  war,  the  Women's  National  Land 
Service  Corps,  and  the  part-time  labour  of  village 
women.  The  last  was  far  the  most  important 
of  the  sources  of  emergency  labour. 

The  need  for  a  greater  production  of  food  was 
brought  home  with  special  force  to  the  Govern- 
ment by  the  deadly  effects  of  the  enemy  submarine 
campaign  in  the  early  part  of  1917.  To  combat 
the  submarine  menace  it  was  of  the  utmost  impor- 
tance that  every  inch  of  farm  land  should  be  made 
to  produce  to  its  fullest  capacity,  and  also  that 
new  areas  of  land  should  be  brought  under  cultiva- 
tion. The  Government  appealed  to  the  farmers 
to  do  their  utmost  to  produce  more  food.  Here 
was  a  chance  for  farmers  to  attain  a  high  level 

149 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

of  patriotism,  an  opportunity  of  consolidating  the 
"  home  front."  They  were  asked  to  risk,  not  their 
lives,  but  their  capital.  Were  they  willing  to 
accept  the  risk  ?  Yes — at  a  price  \  That  price 
was  to  be  definite  and  statutory,  not  a  mere 
promise :  it  was  to  be  guaranteed,  and  fixed 
by  Act  of  Parliament. 

The  farmers  were  in  a  strong  position,  a  position 
as  strong  as  that  held  by  thousands  of  civilians  in 
August  1914,  who  might  have  consented  to  risk 
their  lives  in  the  defence  of  the  nation  only  at  a 
price,  a  price  much  higher  than  a  shilling  a  day  ! 
In  fairness  to  farmers  it  should  be  recorded  that 
they  were  only  imitating  the  industrial  capitalists 
who  undertook  to  supply  ships  and  other  munitions 
of  war,  all  of  whom  exacted  their  "  pound  of 
flesh." 

The  "  bond  "  is  known  as  the  Corn  Production 
Act,  1917.  Part  I,  Section  2,  Clause  i  of  the  Act 
reads : — 

The  following  minimum  prices  shall  be  fixed  for  the 
wheat  and  oats  of  the  following  years: — 

WHEAT.  Ovrs. 

Crop  for  Year.  Price  per  Quarter.          Price  per  Quartet. 

1917         . .          . .         6os.         . .         383.  6d. 
553.         . .         323. 

453.         ..         243. 


1920 
1921 
1922 


The  difference  between  average  market  price  and 
the  minimum  price  stated  in  the  Act  is  paid  to 
150 


THE          TRUCE 

the  farmer  each  year  out  of  taxes.  The  average 
price  of  wheat  or  oats  is  to  be  reckoned  as  "  the 
average  price  for  the  seven  months  from  the  first 
day  of  September  in  that  year  ascertained  by  adding 
together  the  weekly  averages  of  the  weeks  included 
in  those  seven  months,  and  dividing  the  total 
by  the  number  of  weeks." 

Part  III  of  the  Act  deals  with  the  restriction  of 
Agricultural  Rents.  The  rent  payable  must  "  not 
exceed  such  rent  as  could  have  been  obtained  if 
Part  I  of  the  Act  had  not  been  in  force."  Until 
Part  I  of  the  Act  comes  into  operation,  Part  III 
cannot  be  applied.  As  the  average  prices  for  corn 
have  maintained  a  level  much  higher  than  the 
minima  stated  in  the  Act,  there  has  been  no  occasion 
for  farmers  to  apply  for  the  bounty,  or  for  landowners 
to  be  restricted  in  the  raising  of  agricultural 
rents.  Even  should  Part  I  of  the  Act  be  applied, 
the  provision  as  to  the  restriction  of  rents  is  of 
doubtful  value.  Farms  have  recently  been  sold 
at  enormously  enhanced  prices,  and  it  will  be 
difficult  to  make  Part  III  of  the  Act  apply  to  the 
future  rents  of  such  farms. 

In  Part  IV  of  the  Act  the  Board  of  Agriculture 
reserves  power  to  enforce  proper  cultivation.  If 
the  Board  are  of  opinion 

(a)  that  any  land  is  not  being  cultivated  according  to 
the  rules  of  good  husbandry ;    or 

(b)  that  for  the  purpose  of  increasing  in  the  national 
interest  the  production  of  food  the  mode  of  cultivating 
any  land  or  the  use  to  which  any  land  13  being  put  should 
be  changed, 

151 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

they  may  require  the  occupier  to  "  cultivate  the 
land  in  accordance  with  such  directions  as  the 
Board  may  give  for  securing  that  the  cultivation 
shall  be  according  to  the  rules  of  good  husbandry 
or  for  securing  the  necessary  change  in  the  mode 
of  cultivating  or  in  the  use  of  the  land"  or  may 
"  enter  on  and  take  possession  of  the  land." 

Not  the  least  important  part  of  this  very  remark- 
able Act  is  Part  II,  which  provides  for  a  minimum 
rate  of  agricultural  wages.  Unlike  the  fanners, 
the  farm  workers  were  unable  to  bring  organized 
pressure  to  bear  upon  the  Government.  The 
farm  workers  did  not  say  to  the  Government, 
"  We  refuse  to  cultivate  the  soil  unless  we  get 
our  price."  The  minimum  wage  of  255.  a  week 
provided  for  in  the  Act  did  not,  in  fact,  constitute 
a  bare  living  wage,  having  regard  to  the  increase 
in  the  cost  of  living.  Moreover,  farmers  were  in 
a  position  to  be  able  to  pay  a  much  higher  wage 
than  the  minimum  stated  in  the  Act.  The  average 
price  of  wheat,  barley,  and  oats  (June  1917  to  May 
1918)  was  735.  3d.,  6is.  46...  and  493.  lod.  a  quarter 
respectively.  In  1913-14  the  average  price  per 
quarter  was :  wheat  315.  gd.,  barley  26s.  7d.,  and 
oats  i8s.  8d. 

In  the  Report  of  the  Committee  which  inquired 
into  the  Financial  Results  of  the  Occupation  of  Agri- 
cultural Land  (Cd.  76,  1919)  there  is  an  analysis 
of  the  income  and  expenditure  on  twenty-six 
farms  for  the  five  years  ended  1917-18.  After 
paying  all  outgoings,  including  increased  cost  of 
feeding  stuffs,  implements,  labour,  etc.,  the  profit 
152 


THE          TRUCE 

per  acre  had  increased  by  over  350  per  cent 
Wages  during  the  same  period,  on  the  same  farms, 
had  increased  by  only  56  per  cent,  per  acre. 

Mr.  Wilson  Fox  estimated  in  1902  that  the 
average  weekly  value  of  food  consumed  by  farm 
workers'  families,  comprising  two  adults  and  four 
children,  was  133.  6|d.  The  same  amount  of 
food  cost  155.  9fd.  in  1912,  and  in  the  period  March- 
June  1918  no  less  than  285.  n£d.  was  required  to 
purchase  similar  articles  of  food  in  the  same  quanti- 
ties.1 This  estimate  provided  for  food  only,  and 
did  not  include  rent,  firing,  light,  clothes,  insurance, 
beer,  tobacco,  amusements  or  newspapers.  The 
Government  of  the  day,  which  was  in  a  position 
to  command  the  facts,  while  providing  for  a  liberal 
dole  for  farmers,  inserted  the  beggarly  sum  of 
255.  a  week  as  the  minimum  rate  of  wages  for  farm 
workers. 

Fortunately  the  Act  did  not  fix  maximum 
rates  of  wages,  although  the  Committee  which 
reported  on  Wages  and  Conditions  of  Employment 
in  Agriculture  (Cd.  24)  stated  that  in  the  first  part 
of  1918  there  was  a  "  tendency  among  farmers 
to  regard  the  minimum  as  the  maximum  also, 
and  to  pay  the  same  rate  of  wages  to  all  men." 

From  the  farm  workers'  point  of  view  the  most 
valuable  part  of  the  Act  is  Part  II  Section  5,  which 
provides  for  the  establishment  of  an  Agricultural 
Wages  Board.  Under  the  Act  the  Wages  Board 
is  empowered  to  fix  minimum  rates  for  time  work, 
piece  work,  or  both — "  any  such  minimum  rates 
1  See  Appendix  No.  III. 

158 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

may  be  fixed  so  as  to  apply  universally  to  workmen 
employed  in  agriculture,  or  to  any  special  class 
of  workmen  in  agriculture,  or  to  any  special 
area,  or  to  any  special  class  in  a  special  area, 
subject  in  each  case  to  any  exceptions  which 
may  be  made  by  the  Agricultural  Wages  Board 
for  employment  of  any  special  character,  and  so 
as  to  vary  according  as  the  employment  is  for  a 
day,  week,  month,  or  other  period,  or  according  to 
the  number  of  working  hours  or  the  conditions 
of  the  employment,  or  so  as  to  provide  for  a 
differential  rate  in  the  case  of  overtime."  The 
Act  also  states  that  less  than  the  minimum 
rates  can  be  fixed  in  the  case  of  a  man  who  is 
"  affected  by  any  mental  or  other  infirmity  or 
physical  injury  which  renders  him  incapable  of 
earning  that  mimimum  rate." 

In  fixing  the  minimum  rates  for  able-bodied 
men  the  Wages  Board  is  to  secure,  "  so  far  as 
practicable,"  that  the  wages  are  "  adequate  to 
promote  efficiency  and  to  enable  a  man  in  an 
ordinary  case  to  maintain  himself  and  his  family 
in  accordance  with  such  standard  of  comfort  as 
may  be  reasonable  in  relation  to  the  nature  of  his 
occupation." 

Further,  it  is  part  of  the  duty  of  the  Wages 
Board  to  define  the  value  of  "  benefits  or  advan- 
tages." In  future  the  minimum  wage  must  be 
reckoned  in  cash,  and  deductions  from  the  cash 
minimum  on  account  of  part  payments  in  kind 
can  only  be  made  in  the  case  of  certain  specified 
"  benefits  and  advantages,"  the  quantity  and 
154 


T    H_E          TRUCE 

quality  of  which  have  to  be  clearly  defined.  Some 
of  these  benefits  have  been  defined  by  the  Agri- 
cultural Wages  Board  (A.W.  311),  and  a  basis 
of  valuation  fixed.  For  these  specified  allow- 
ances declaration  can  be  made.  Other  allowances 
must  be  regarded  merely  as  gifts.  This  will  clear 
up  what  has  always  been  a  matter  for  controversy 
in  agriculture.  Henceforth  both  farmer  and  worker 
will  know  exactly  what  wages  are  to  be  paid. 

The  constitution  and  proceedings  of  the  Agri- 
cultural Wages  Board  are  outlined  in  the  first 
schedule  of  the  Act,  and  are  determined  by  Regula- 
tions of  the  Board  of  Agriculture  and  Fisheries, 
dated  November  8,  1917,  and  subsequent  orders. 

The  Wages  Board  consists  of  39  persons,  32 
of  whom  are  representatives,  the  rest  being  ap- 
pointed by  the  Board  of  Agriculture.  Of  the 
appointed  members,  one  at  least  is  a  woman. 
The  Chairman  and  Deputy-Chairman  are  appointed 
by  the  Board  of  Agriculture  from  among  the  members 
of  the  Wages  Board. 

The  farmers  and  farm  workers  are  each  entitled 
to  send  sixteen  representatives.  Of  these,  eight  are 
official  representatives  of  the  various  farmers' 
organizations,  and  eight  are  official  representatives 
of  the  farm  workers'  Unions.  The  remaining 
eight  representatives  of  each  side  are  selected  by 
the  Board  of  Agriculture  from  names  submitted 
by  bodies  of  farmers  and  bodies  of  farm  workers 
respectively.  In  the  regulations  both  the  farmers 
and  farm  workers'  Unions  are  definitely  recognized. 

With  commendable  despatch  the  Wages  Board 

155 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

set  about  a  difficult  and  onerous  task  in  a  broad- 
minded  arid  businesslike  manner.  It  proceeded 
at  once,  in  co-operation  with  the  Board  of  Agricul- 
ture, to  set  up  District  Wages  Committees  cover- 
ing every  county  in  England  and  Wales.  With 
one  or  two  exceptions  in  England  the  "  district  " 
is  the  county  area.  In  Wales  counties  were  grouped 
to  form  the  "  Districts."  These  District  Wages 
Committees  consist  of  an  equal  number  of  repre- 
sentatives of  employers  and  workmen  and  a  number 
(not  exceeding  a  quarter  of  the  whole  number  of 
representatives)  of  impartial  persons  appointed  by 
the  Board  of  Agriculture.  The  District  Wages 
Committees  recommend  to  the  Central  Wages  Board 
the  minimum  rates  applicable  to  their  districts. 
The  first  order  under  the  Act  came  into  operation 
in  Norfolk  on  May  20,  1918. 

Minimum  rates  were  fixed  for  each  county  in 
England  and  Wales  both  for  male  and  female 
workers  according  to  age  groups.  In  addition 
to  fixing  the  minimum  rates  of  wages,  the  maximum 
number  of  hours  to  be  worked  for  the  minimum 
rate  was  also  given,  and  the  rate  per  hour  for  all 
overtime.  These  rates,  as  published,  become 
law,  and  any  employer  paying  less  than  the  mini- 
mum rates  to  any  but  an  exempted  worker  is 
liable  to  a  fine  not  exceeding  £20. 

By  March  1919  no  county  rate  was  less  than 
305.  a  week  for  a  male  farm  worker  of  21  years 
and  over.  The  rates  for  ordinary  farm  workers 
ranged  from  305.  to  363.  6d.  (exclusive  of  overtime),1 

1  See  Appendix   No  II. 
156 


THE          TRUCE 

while  for  special  classes  such  as  horsemen,  cowmen, 
head  carters,  shepherds,  etc.,  the  rates  ranged 
from  345.  to  435.  a  week,  not  reckoning  overtime. 
Owing  to  representations  made  by  the  farm  workers' 
Unions,  the  Wages  Board  conceded  a  further 
rise.  The  new  rates  came  into  force  on  May  19, 
1919,  and  provided  for  a  minimum  wage  of  365.  6d. 
per  week  for  a  six-day  week  of  54  hours,  to  be 
reduced  to  50  hours  in  October.  This  minimum 
applied  to  all  classes  of  able-bodied  male  workers 
over  21  years  of  age. 

Thus  by  setting  up  a  Wages  Board  the  Corn 
Production  Act  has  encompassed  a  revolution  in 
Agriculture,  the  effects  of  which  are  only  just 
beginning  to  be  felt.  Some  of  its  immediate 
effects  will  be  considered  hi  the  next  chapter. 


157 


CHAPTER   IV 

THE    AWAKENING 

"All  the  past  we  leave  behind, 

We  debouch  upon  a  newer  mightier  world,  varied  world, 
Fresh  and  strong  the  world  we  seize,  world  of  labour  and 
the  march." 

IN  the  preceding  chapters  an  attempt  has  been 
made  to  follow  the  historical  development  of  village 
Trade  Unions,  to  describe  the  conditions  which 
called  them  into  being,  and  to  indicate  the  main 
reasons  why  they  failed  permanently  to  improve 
the  status  of  the  farm  worker.  This  general  survey 
has  brought  out  at  least  one  salient  feature,  a  charac- 
teristic of  all  farm  workers'  efforts  at  combination 
— instability. 

Between  1912  and  1914  there  appeared  to  be 
a  steady  progression  in  organization,  which  led 
many  to  hope  that  at  last  the  farm  workers  were 
going  to  build  up  a  really  effective  and  stable 
organization.  The  war  intervened  and  crushed 
those  hopes  to  the  ground.  But  to  close  students 
of  agricultural  Trade  Unions  there  appeared  to 
be  very  little  ground  for  optimism.  The  new 
158 


THE  AWAKENING 

Unions  resembled  the  old  in  almost  every  particular. 
There  was  no  new  factor  in  the  situation.  The 
farm  worker  was  still  as  difficult  to  organize.  True, 
he  was  if  anything  better  educated,  and  politically 
more  sophisticated.  But  the  old  vicious  circle 
still  remained  :  wages  were  low  because  the  farm 
worker  remained  unorganized,  and  he  remained 
unorganized  because  he  could  not  afford  to  keep 
up  the  weekly  contributions  to  a  Union.  Again, 
the  opportunities  for  social  intercourse  in  the 
villages  had  not  improved  to  any  appreciable 
extent ;  the  farm  worker,  in  the  mam,  still  remained 
an  isolated  worker,  rarely  meeting  his  fellows  in 
association.  The  hopes  inspired  by  the  introduc- 
tion of  Parish  Councils,  and  the  extension  of  the 
franchise  in  Local  Government,  were  proved  by 
experience  to  be  illusory.  Mr.  Prothero  could 
write,  quite  truthfully,  in  1912  that  "  the  sense 
of  social  inferiority  has  impressed  the  labourer 
with  the  feeling  that  he  is  not  regarded  as  a  member 
of  the  community,  but  only  as  its  helot." 

Mr.  George  Edwards  said  in  1912 :  "  Forty 
years'  experience  has  convinced  me  that  the 
labourers  cannot  get  a  living  wage  by  Trade- 
Union  effort  alone.  The  difficulties  of  organiza- 
tion are  so  great  that  we  cannot  get  an  organization 
strong  enough  to  enforce  it."  What  was  the  ex- 
planation ?  Why  was  it  that  the  Unions  seemed 
to  rise  on  a  wave  of  enthusiasm  and  then  to 
descend  sharply  into  a  trough  of  depression  ?  The 
explanation  is  to  be  found  in  one  word — fear. 

The  difficulty  with  all  farm  workers'  Unions 

159 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

has  been  to  keep  them  steady.  The  farm  worker 
is  not  easily  roused  ;  he  is  slow  to  move  ;  but 
when  he  moves,  he  wants  something  to  happen 
quickly.  Most  of  the  strikes  were  started  by  local 
branches  on  their  own  initiative,  and  these  ill- 
considered  acts  have  on  several  occasions  brought 
the  Unions  near  to  ruin.  What  was  at  the  root  of 
this  instability  ?  Fear.  The  farm  worker  was 
haunted  by  the  fear  of  the  farmer  and  the  land- 
owner. Merely  to  join  a  Union  was  regarded  by 
his  superiors  as  a  crime.  He  knew  the  farmer 
would  not  tolerate  a  Unionist  in  his  employ,  that 
the  squire  would  mark  him  down  as  a  suspicious 
person,  and  that  the  parson  would  most  likely 
side  with  the  squire  and  farmer. 

These  were  the  real  and  permanent  influences 
in  village  life.  The  Unions,  perhaps,  had  gained 
a  footing  in  the  village  years  ago,  and  had  vanished, 
leaving  the  farm  worker  to  his  own  fate.  Perhaps 
he,  or  his  fellows,  had  been  turned  out  of  their 
cottages  for  association  with  the  Union  in  earlier 
days.  Town-dwellers  can  hardly  appreciate  the 
amount  of  personal  courage  required  to  oppose 
the  settled  ideas  with  count  for  so  much  in  village 
life.  Courage  is  akin  to  fear.  The  farm  worker 
having  dared  so  much,  quickly  became  a  victim 
of  fear.  He  knew  the  farmers  would  retaliate 
soon  enough  ;  so  he  acted  on  the  philosophy  that 
"  Thrice  armed  is  he  who  gets  his  blow  in  first." 
The  time  chosen  was  often  the  wrong  time,  with 
the  result  that  the  strike  proved,  in  the  long  run, 
to  be  ineffective. 
160 


THE  AWAKENING 

At  present  the  farm  workers  are  in  high  spirits. 
They  are  joining  their  Unions  at  the  rate  of  thousands 
a  month.  Dozens  of  new  branches  are  being  started 
every  week.  It  is  not  uncommon  for  the  majority 
of  farm  workers  in  a  village  to  join  the  Union  at 
the  first  visit  of  the  organizer.  In  villages  where 
Unionism  has  never  before  gained  a  footing  are  to 
be  found  some  of  the  strongest  branches.  The 
farm  workers  have  thrown  fear  to  the  winds.  What 
is  the  explanation  ? 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  organization 
of  the  Agricultural  Wages  Board  and  District 
Committees  is  directly  responsible  for  this  boom. 
Mr.  R.  B.  Walker,  the  General  Secretary  of  the 
National  Agricultural  Labourers  and  Rural  Workers' 
Union,  in  an  interview  acknowledged  this.  He 
said : — 

"It  is  true  to  say  the  Corn  Production  Act  has  un- 
doubtedly provided  an  incentive  to  the  labourer  to  organize, 
whereby  through  his  Union  he  would  be  able  to  secure 
the  benefits  that  the  Act,  or  orders  made  under  the  Act, 
might  give  him." 

Mr.  George  Dallas,  of  the  Workers'  Union,  said  : — 

"  The  need  for  representation  on  the  bodies  for  fixing 
wages  made  organization  essential.  The  representatives 
come  back  and  report  to  their  branches,  and  the  branches 
see  that  the  representatives  are  in  possession  of  all  the 
facts.  Men  join  the  Union  in  order  to  be  represented 
and  because  they  are  beginning  to  see  the  fruits  of  organi 
zation." 

One  of  the  arguments  advanced  by  the  Land 
Enquiry  Committee,  which  reported  in  1913  in 

L  101 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

favour  of  a  Wages  Board,  was  "  the  representation 
of  farmers  and  labourers  on  such  a  Board  would 
lead  to  better  organization  on  both  sides."  This 
was  a  prophecy  which  experience  of  the  Trades 
Boards  had  justified.  The  direct  outcome  of  the 
establishment  of  an  Agricultural  Wages  Board 
has  been  a  wonderful  growth  in  Unionism. 

Numbers  of  farmers,  to  whom  Unionism  was 
anathema,  have  come  to  look  upon  the  organization 
of  the  farm  workers  as  a  necessary  factor.  There 
are,  of  course,  exceptions,  but  on  the  whole  the 
large  majority  are  beginning  to  recognize  that 
union  is  essential  for  both  sides.  The  farmer  is 
a  member  of  a  powerful  Union.  In  addition  to 
the  Farmers'  Union  there  are  Chambers  of  Agri- 
culture and  Farmers'  Clubs,  which  also  serve 
farmers'  interests.  The  farmer  has  realized  the 
advantages  to  be  secured  through  combination, 
and  he  cannot  very  well  deny  the  worker  the  right 
also  to  be  represented  by  an  organization. 

The  two  chief  workmen's  organizations  are  the 
National  Agricultural  Labourers'  and  Rural  Workers' 
Union  and  the  Workers'  Union,  which  latter  orga- 
nization has  incorporated  two  other  rural  unions, 
which  also  included  town  workers  in  their  ranks, 
namely,  The  National  Amalgamated  Union  and  the 
Dairy  Workers'  and  Rural  Workers'  Union.  There 
are  one  or  two  other  Unions  at  work  in  England, 
but  their  membership  is  insignificant.  These  two 
large  Unions  have  each  a  membership  much  larger 
than  the  combined  membership  of  any  previous 
iarm  workers'  Unions. 
162 


THE  AWAKENING 

The  National  Agricultural  and  Rural  Workers' 
Union  has  branches  in  every  county  in  England 
and  Wales  and  a  membership  (July  1919)  of  con- 
siderably more  than  100,000  distributed  over 
more  than  2,000  branches.  New  branches  are 
being  formed  every  week,  and  the  membership 
is  rapidly  increasing. 

The  Workers'  Union  also  has  branches  in  every 
county  and  has  enrolled  over  100,000  farm  workers 
in  its  ranks  ;  its  general  membership  is  over  600,000, 
and  is  still  growing.  This  Union,  embracing  as 
it  does  all  kinds  of  workers,  has  an  income  of 
£7,000  a  week  and  a  financial  reserve  of  £300,000. 
Farm  workers  are  also  to  be  found  within  the 
ranks  of  the  Dockers'  Union,  The  Union  of  Muni- 
cipal Employees,  The  National  Union  of  Gasworkers, 
and  even  in  the  Union  of  Co-operative  Employees. 
At  present,  July  1919,  nearly  250,000  farm  workers 
are  paying  into  a  Union.  If  this  rate  of  pro- 
gress is  maintained  for  another  year,  the  farm 
worker  will  be  one  of  the  most  closely  organized 
wage-earners  in  the  United  Kingdom. 

Part  II  Section  5  of  the  Corn  Production  Act 
may  well  be  described  as  the  farm  workers'  charter. 
It  is  not  so  much  the  setting  up  of  a  minimum  wage 
as  the  creation  of  Wages  Boards  that  has  stimu- 
lated Unionism.  For  the  first  time  in  history  the 
farm  worker  has  been  invited  to  state  his  case 
through  his  accredited  representatives.  There  is 
no  doubt  that  the  insertion  in  the  Act  of  a  paltry 
255.  minimum  drove  thousands  into  Unions  who 
might  not  have  joined  had  a  really  adequate  mini- 

168 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

mum  been  provided.  However,  the  recognition 
of  the  legal  right  to  a  minimum  rate  of  wages  and 
the  establishment  of  representative  bodies  for  the 
purpose  of  determining  the  rates  for  the  various 
counties  gave  the  farm  worker  his  chance.  He 
has  risen  nobly  to  the  opportunity. 

The  Representative  Committees  have  opened 
up  an  entirely  new  chapter.  The  Unions  are 
frankly  recognized,  and  farm  workers  and  farmers 
have  to  be  represented  in  equal  proportions.  Jack 
is  as  good  as  his  master.  Unlike  representation 
on  Parish,  District  and  County  Councils,  the  worker 
has  as  good  a  chance  of  stating  his  case  as  the 
farmer.  He  has  become  really  articulate.  Ob- 
servers tell  of  the  wonderful  change  that  has  come 
over  farm  workers  since  they  have  been  members 
of  the  District  Committees.  At  first  they  seemed 
afraid  to  speak,  were  diffident  and  reserved.  A 
few  meetings  produced  remarkable  changes.  The 
farm  worker  proved  himself  to  be  as  skilful  in  nego- 
tiation as  the  farmers.  Both  farmer  and  workmen 
have  benefited  by  the  opportunity  of  coming  face 
to  face  with  each  other  in  conference. 

What  grounds  are  there  for  hoping  that  the  new 
Unionism  will  prove  more  stable  than  the  old  ? 
The  answer  is  to  be  found  in  the  Corn  Production 
Act.  The  Wages  Board  and  District  Committees 
will  act  as  stabilizers.  The  farm  workers  have 
realized  the  importance  of  organized  representation 
on  such  bodies  ;  by  means  of  their  organizations 
they  have  been  able  to  exert  considerable  influence 
on  the  decisions  arrived  at  by  the  Wages  Board. 
161 


THE  AWAKENING 

Centrally  the  Unions  have  been  instrumental  in 
raising  minimum  rates  from  255.  a  week  to  365.  6d. 
for  a  working  week  of  50  hours,  while  locally 
in  many  instances  rates  much  higher  than 
the  rates  scheduled  for  the  districts  have  been 
obtained. 

Unlike  the  old  Union  agreements  with  farmers, 
the  new  rates  cannot  be  evaded  with  impunity. 
The  farmer  who  attempts  to  pay  less  than  the 
scheduled  rates  without  a  special  permit  from  the 
Wages  Board,  commits  a  punishable  offence. 

In  addition  to  higher  rates,  many  other  benefits 
have  been  secured.  These  are  successes  which  the 
farm  worker  will  not  quickly  forget.  Much  more 
remains  to  be  accomplished,  and  it  is  only  by 
organization  that  further  progress  can  be  attained. 

The  farm  worker  is  fully  conscious  of  the  fact 
that  the  Wages  Board  will  not  bring  him  the 
full  emancipation  which  has  to  come.  He  is 
looking  forward  to  the  time  when  he  will  be  able 
to  take  his  share  in  the  control  of  the  industry  in 
which  he  is  such  an  important  partner.  Already 
he  is  demanding  that  a  full  inquiry  shall  be  made 
into  the  organization  and  management  of  the  in- 
dustry. The  example  of  the  Coal  Commission  has 
not  escaped  the  notice  of  the  farm  worker.  He  knows 
(none  better)  that  a  reorganized  Agriculture  can 
be  made  to  serve  the  interest  of  the  whole  community 
without  dooming  him  always  to  remain  a  mere 
wage-earner.  At  his  conferences  the  farm  worker 
is  calling  upon  the  nation  to  reform  its  land  laws 
in  the  interests  of  agriculture. 

165 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

At  a  Workers'  Union  conference  held  at  Oxford 
in  June  1919  it  was  affirmed  that  it  was  "  essential 
to  the  well-being  of  the  whole  country  "  that  a 
reform  be  effected  in  the  present  system  of  Land 
Ownership. 

At  a  National  Conference  of  the  Agricultural 
Labourers'  and  Rural  Workers'  Union  (April, 
1919),  delegates  from  every  county  in  England 
and  Wales  recorded  their  opinion  that  "  no  adequate 
solution  of  the  rural  problem  is  possible  so  long 
as  the  land  is  privately  owned." 

The  farm  worker  no  longer  feels  that  in  joining 
a  Union  he  becomes  a  member  of  an  unlawful 
body.  He  can  attend  his  branch  meeting  in  broad 
daylight,  and  need  no  longer  stand  in  the  shadow 
at  an  open-air  meeting  at  night.  Before  very  long 
it  will  be  as  uncommon  to  find  a  non-Unionist 
as  it  was  to  find  a  Unionist  five  years  ago.  There 
will  be  no  return  to  the  bad  old  days.  The  Unions 
have  come  to  stay.  The  farm  worker  now  regards 
himself  as  a  member  of  the  community,  not  its 
helot.  Only  those  in  touch  with  the  present 
movement  can  really  conceive  the  mighty  awaken- 
ing that  has  taken  place. 

Those  who  have  returned  from  the  war  have 
learnt  much  during  their  absence  from  the 
villages.  These  men  are  determined  not  to  en- 
dure the  old  order  of  things.  They  remember 
the  value  placed  upon  them  by  the  politicians 
in  their  speeches.  They  know  that  the  politicians 
blurted  out  the  truth  when  the  nation  was  in 
danger. 
166 


THE  AWAKENING 

The  farm  workers  are  quite  as  much  awake  as 
the  farmers ;  they  know  the  farmers'  case  as  well 
as  their  own.  It  is  no  use  for  farmers  to  bury  their 
heads  in  the  sand ;  they  must  face  the  problem, 
and  do  a  bit  of  thinking.  The  farm  worker  is  not 
going  to  be  ignored,  or  to  be  put  off  with  half 
measures.  He  is  in  earnest.  He  knows  what  he 
wants,  and  means  to  get  it.  Not  only  in  the 
industrial  field,  but  in  the  political  field  the  power 
of  the  organized  farm  workers  will  be  felt.  The 
rural  divisions  are  going  to  provide  a  surprise  for 
the  politicians  when  the  elections  come  along. 
Already  this  influence  has  been  felt  in  the  District 
Council  elections.  Nor  are  the  farm  workers 
ignorant  of  the  important  part  that  the  County 
Councils  are  going  to  play  in  the  administration 
of  the  country.  Politically  the  farm  worker  is 
wide  awake.  In  Union  he  has  found  his 
strength. 

To  move  among  the  farm  workers,  to  attend 
their  meetings,  conferences,  branch  meetings,  and 
demonstrations  is  to  come  into  direct  contact  with 
a  force  such  as  has  never  before  been  felt  in  the 
villages.  One  feels  that  its  potency  is  derived 
from  its  sanity :  it  is  virile  and  intelligent.  One 
doesn't  tremble  before  it ;  it  is  not  violent  or 
explosive,  but  steady  and  persistent.  The  farm 
worker  is  awake  and  articulate,  his  eyes  are  opened, 
and  he  is  talking  about  the  things  that  concern 
him  most,  the  things  he  understands  best — the 
facts  concerning  his  industry,  and  the  conditions 
under  which  he  has  to  live. 

167 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

The  lines  of  George  Loveless,  the  pioneer  of 
Village  Trade  Unions,  voice  the  aspirations  of  the 
modern  farm  workers  : — 

By  reason,  union,  justice,  law, 
We  claim  the  birthright  of  our  sires, 
We  raise  the  watchword  liberty 
We  will,  we  will,  we  will  be  free ! 


NOTE  ON  AUTHORITIES 

THE  best  and  most  reliable  authority  on  the  farm 
worker  in  the  nineteenth  century  is  Dr.  W.  Hasbach. 
His  book  A  History  of  the  English  Agricultural 
Labourer  (1906)  is  a  classical  example  of  thorough- 
ness, and  also  contains  full  references  to  the  sources 
of  information,  which  have  been  invaluable  to  the 
present  writer.  Miss  O.  Jocelyn  Dunlop's  book 
The  Farm  Labourer.  The  History  of  a  Modern 
Problem,  brings  the  history  down  to  1912. 

References  to  the  first  Union  and  to  the  revolt 
of  the  Seventies  are  to  be  found  in  Sidney  Webb's 
History  of  Trade  Unionism,  and  a  graphic  account 
of  the  conditions  of  the  farm  worker  in  the  Thirties 
and  Forties  is  contained  in  Frederick  Engels' 
Condition  of  the  Working  Classes  in  1844.  The 
following  works  (all  out  of  print)  deal  fully  with 
the  movement  in  the  Seventies  and  Eighties : 
Joseph  Arch :  the  story  of  his  life  told  by  himself ; 
The  English  Peasantry,  and  The  '  Romance '  of 
Peasant  Life  in  the  West  of  England,  (1872)  by 
F.  G.  Heath ;  The  Revolt  of  the  Field,  by  Arthur 
Clayden ;  and  Land  Reform,  by  the  Right  Hon. 
Jesse  Collings.  Several  sympathetic  references  to 

169 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 

the  Unions  are  made  by  Professor  Thorold  Rogers 
in  Six  Centuries  of  Work  and  Wages.  British 
Farming  Past  and  Present,  by  Mr.  R.  E.  Prothero 
(Lord  Ernie),  should  be  consulted  hi  order  to  get 
an  all-round  view  of  the  question.  In  addition, 
there  are  the  reports  of  innumerable  Royal  Com- 
missions, Select  Committees,  Poor  Law  Com- 
missioners, etc. 


170 


APPENDIX 


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<S                4)    o    4) 

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8^    H  <3  Jl  .X  M  1 

Expenditure  of  Farm 

i  i  1  1  1  1 

1 

??  The  average  numt 
per  head  only  83.  6d. 

INCREAS 

The  Committee  ad 
stable,  but  considerab 
basis  of  quantities  of  f 
1918,  to  January  ist, 
since  1014  to  93  per 

180 


INDEX 


Allotments,  91,  no,  114 

Allowances,  115 

Arch,  Joseph,  26,  37,  38,  40, 

4*.  43.  45.  46-  54.  60.  67, 
68,  74,  80,  81,  88,  89,  90, 
93-102,  103 

Arch,  Mrs.,  94,  95 

Arson,  12,  13 

Attenborough,  Rev.,  54,  60 

Barford,  37,  93 
Beard,  Councillor  J.,  134 
Bentinck,  Lord  Henry,  100 
Bird  brook,  129 
Bradlaugh,  Charles,  55,  65 
British  Association,  44 
Bulwer,  Edward,  17,  20 

Chamberlain,  Joseph.  99,  100, 

109 
Children,  Employment  of,  25, 

26,  27,  139-144 
Chipping  Norton,  58,  39,  60 
Chronicle,  Leamington,  39,  41, 

45 
Chronicle,      The      Labourers' 

Union.  51,  52,  57,  64,  66, 

67,  69,  81.  86,  88 
Clayden,    Arthur,  52,   54,  66, 

67 

Clergy,  Attitude  of,  34.  54-61 
Clubs,  Village,  75,  76 


Coal  Commission,  165 
Cobbett,  William,  19 
Collings,  Jesse,  22,  40,  42,  44, 

43.    48.    54.    55.    59.    80, 

96 

Corn  Prices,  146,  152 
Corn  Production  Act,  150-157, 

163,  164 
Cost    of   Living,     n6,      146, 

153 
Criminal  Law  Amendment  Act, 

60 
Cultivation,  Power  to  enforce, 

I5L  152 

Dairy    Workers'    and    Rural 

Workers'  Union,  134,  162 
Dallas,  George,  135,  161 
Day,  H.  A.,  121,  122 
Depopulation,  115,  118,  119 
Depression,   Agricultural,   73, 

74 

Derby,  Lord,  126 
Disestablishment,  59,   86,    87, 

88,  96 

Dockers'  Union,  77,  78,  163 
Dorchester  Labourers,  11-21 
Duncan,  Charles,  M.P.,  135 

Eastern  Counties  Agricultural 
Labourers'  and  Small 
Holders'  Union,  121,  122 

181 


VILLAGE       TRADE       UNIONS 


Eastern       Counties       Labour 

Federation,  77 
Education,    27,   90,    91,    103, 

139-144 
Edwards,  George,  28,  102-105, 

121,  125,  126,  128,  159 
Ellicott,  Dr.,  55 
Emigration,  36,  50,  66,  67,  68, 

71,  81 
Engels,  Fredk.,  13,  23,  24 

Farmers'  Federation,  130,  145 
Fellowes,  Sir  Alwyn,  130 
Fitzmaurice,    Lord     Edward, 

M.P.,  45,  85 

Franchise,  60,  76,  86,  87 
Fraser,  Bishop,  29,  70,  71 

Game,  28,  88 

Gang  System,  25,  26,  27 

George,  Rt.  Hon.  Lloyd,  109, 

112 

Girdlestone,  Canon,  25,  30,  33, 
34.  35,  44. 45.  60,  61, 75,  88 

Gloucester,  Bishop  of,  55 

Gore,  Dr.,  see  Oxford 

Grand  National  Consolidated 
Trades  Union,  15 

Halberton,  33,  34,  35 
Harris,  W.  V.,  121 
Hasbach,  21,  72,  88 
Heath,  Francis,  30,  33,  38,  61 
Helions  Bumpstead,  128,  129 
Holland,  Canon  Scott,  143 
Housing,  29,  30,  89,  111-114 

Intimidation,  57,  62,  114,  124, 
125,  127,  128 

Kent  and  Sussex  Union,  36, 

76,  77 
182 


Land  Enquiry  Committee,  no, 

112,  113,  161 

Land  Restoration  League,  78 
Leamington    Conference,    27. 

28.  31 

Leicester,  Lord,  129 
Lilford,  Lord,  131-133 
Lincolnshire  Labourers'League, 

37.  46.  71 
London  and  Counties  Labour 

League,  77 
London  Dorchester  Committee, 

20,  21 
Loveless,  George,   13,   14,   16, 

19,  21,  168 
Lytton,  Lord,  see  Bulwer 

Manchester,     Bishop    of,     tee 

Fraser 

Mann,  Tom,  134 
Manning,  Cardinal,  60,  65 
Marlborough,  Duke  of,  38,  61, 

89 

Melbourne,  Lord,  18,  20 
Migration,  35,  36,  37,  50,  65, 

67,  68,  71,  81 

Military,  Use  of,  in  strikes,  69 
Minimum  Wage,  152,  153,  154, 

156,  157 

Mitchell,  George,  92 
Morley,  Samuel,  65,  85 

National  AgriculturalLabourers' 
and  Rural  Workers'  Union, 
123-134,  145,  162,  163,  166 

National  Amalgamated  Union 
of  Labourers,  138,  162 

National  Farm  Labourers' 
Union,  73 

Newman,  Professor,  73 

Nicholls,  George,  M.P.,  121, 
122 


INDEX 


Norfolk  and  Norwich  Amalga- 
mated Union,  77,  104 
North- West  Essex  Federation, 

133 
Nottingham  Corporation,    130 

O'Connell,  Daniel,  17,  19 
Oxford,  Bishop  of,  56,  143 

Parish  Councils,  91,  100,  102, 

104,  159,  164 
Picketing,  126 
Prothero,  R.  E.,  73,  117,  140, 

159 

Red  Vans,  78 

Rents,  Restriction  of,  151 

Rew,    Sir    Henry,    in,     115, 

118 

Richmond  Commission,  80,  89 
Rix,  George,  92 
Rogers,  Professor  Thorold,  34, 

48,  56,  81,  102 
Runciman,  Rt.  Hon.  W.,  in 

Sandringham  Estate,  130 
Seddpn,  J.  A.,  125 
Selborne,  Lord,  147 
Sexton,  James,  125,  126 
Schedules,  County,  135-137 
Sick  Benefit  Society,  75,  76 
Small  Holdings,  91,  no,  in, 

114 

Smith,  Councillor  Walter,  122 
Soldiers,  Employment  of,  148, 

149 


Somersetshire  Society,  117, 1 18 
Spurgeon,  C.  H.,  85 
"  Starred  "  Workers,  147,  148 
"  Swing,"  13,  23 

Taylor,  Henry,  42,  45,  48,  93 
Tied  Cottage,  89,  113,  114 
Trevelyan,  George,  65,  85,  87 
Trusts,  Charitable,  88,  89 

Vincent,  Matthew,  41,  45,  51. 

Wages,  24, 25,  33, 35,  37, 50, 51; 

62,  69,  70,  79,  80,  115-120, 

127, 129,  130,  131, 133,  142, 

144,  149 
Wages  Boards,   153-157,   162. 

164,  165 

Wages,  Customary,    119,    120 
Wakefield,  E.  G.,  M.P.,  13 
Walker,  R.  B.,   127,   161 
Walpole,  Sir  Spencer,  16 
Warwickshire         Agricultural 

Labourers'  Union,  42,  43, 

44 

Webb,  Sidney,  16,  72 
Wellesbourne,  37.  38,  39,  43 
Winfrey,   Richard,  M.P.,    121, 

122 
Women,  Employment  of,   25, 

26,  149 

Women,  Enthusiasm  of,  82,  83 
Workers'  National  Committee, 

142 
Workers'  Union,  79,  134-138, 

162,  163,  166 


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48  THE  DESTITUTE  ALIEN  IN  GREAT  BRITAIN  Arnold  White,  <8 

49  ILLEGITIMACY    AND    THE     INFLUENCE    OF    SEASONS    O3 

CONDUCT  Albert  Lcffingvell,  MJ. 

50  COMMERCIAL  CRISES  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 

H.  M.  Hyndma 

51  THE  STATE  AND  PENSIONS  IN  OLD  AGE  /.  A.  Spmdt 
53  THE  FALLACY  OF  SAVING                                     form  M.  Robertst 
53  THE  IRISH  PEASANT  Am 

•54  EFFECTS  OF  MACHINERY  ON  WAGES   Prof.  /.  S.  NkholioH,D.S< 

••55  THE  SOCIAL  HORIZON  Am 

56  SOCIALISM,  UTOPIAN  AND  SCIENTIFIC  Frederirh  Bnge 

»*57  LAND  NATIONALISATION  A.  R.  Woilat 

58  THE  ETHIC  OF  USURY  AND  INTEREST  Rev.  W.  Btissar 

•59  THE  EMANCIPATION  OF  WOMEN  Adili  Cnpa 

6e  THE  EIGHT  HOURS'  QUESTION  John  M. 

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65  ENGLAND'S  FOREIGN  TRADE  IN  XIXTH  CENTURY  A.L.Bowley 

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67  HISTORY  OF  THE  ROCHDALE  PIONEERS  G.J.Holyoak* 

68  THE  RIGHTS  OF  WOMEN  AT.  Oflr«gorsW 

69  DWELLINGS  OF  THE  PEOPLE  T.  Locke  Worthington 
76  BRITISH  FREEWOMEN  Charlotte  M.  Stapes 

79  THREE  MONTHS  IN  A  WORKSHOP  P.  Gohre.with  Preface  by  Prof.  Ely 

80  DARWINISM  AND  RACE  PROGRESS  Pro/.  /.  B.  Haycraft 

81  LOCAL  TAXATION  AND  FINANCE  G.  H.  Blnnden 
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84  LABOUR  UPON  THE  LAND  Edited  by  /.  A.  Hobson,  M~A. 
86  PARASITISM,  ORGANIC  AND  SOCIAL         Massart  &  Vmdervelde 

*87  ALLOTMENTS  AND  SMALL  HOLDINGS  /.  L.  Green 

*88  MONEY  AND  ITS  RELATION  TO  PRICES  L.  L.  Price 

89  SOBER  BY  ACT  OF  PARLIAMENT  P.  A.  Mackenzie 

go  WORKERS  ON  THEIR  INDUSTRIES  Edited  by  F.  W.  Gallon 

91  REVOLUTION  AND  COUNTER-REVOLUTION  Karl  Marx 

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93  LOCAL  GOVERNMENT  AND  STATE  AID  S.  J.  Chapman 

94  VILLAGE  COMMUNITIES  IN  INDIA  B.H.Baden-PowelltMJi.,C.LE. 

95  ANGLO-AMERICAN  TRADE  5.  /.  Chapman 

97  COMMERCIAL  FEDERATION  &  COLONIAL  TRADE  POLICY 

/.  Davidson,  M^.,  PhilJ). 

98  SELECTIONS  FROM  FOURIER  C.  Gide  and  J.  Franklin 

99  PUBLIC-HOUSE  REFORM  A.  N.  Camming 
100  THE  VILLAGE  PROBLEM  G.  F.  Mittin 
102  CHRISTIAN  SOCIALISM  IN  ENGLAND                 A.  V.  Woodworth 
104  THE  ENGLISH  CORN  LAWS                      Prof.  J.  S.  Nichobon,  M.A. 
106  RATES  AND  TAXES  AS  AFFECTING  AGRICULTURE 

Prof.  J.  S.  Nicholson,  Jtf -4. 

108  JOHN  THELWALL  CAof.  Ceilre,  LittJJ. 

'109  RENT,WAGES  AND  PROFITS  IN  AGRICULTURE  Prof. JJS .Nicholson 
no  ECONOMIC  PREJUDICES  Yves  Goyot 

ill  CONTEMPORARY  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS  Achille  Loria 

'1 13  WHO  PAYS*  THE  REAL  INCIDENCE  OF  TAXATION  Robert  Henry 


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